Jones expected in court
An Illinois state senator accused of corruption is expected to make a plea Friday in court.
Sen. Emil Jones III is accused of accepting a $5,000 bribe to help block legislation that would have been unfavorable for the red-light company Safespeed.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker called on Jones to resign from his senate seat. Jones resigned from leadership positions but has held on to his $73,000 a year senator’s position.
Inmates allegedly paid bail with fraudulent PPP loans
The cases of pandemic relief money fraud continue to surface.
More than two dozen people have been charged with fraudulently obtaining Paycheck Protection Program funds while not operating actual businesses, and some of them used the money to post bond to free themselves from jail on other charges. Joliet Police Chief Williams Evans said 25 people were part of the scheme, with the fraud costing taxpayers up to $500,000.
Lightfoot to McDonalds: Educate yourself
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot fired back at the head of McDonalds after the CEO said crime in Chicago is driving companies away. Lightfoot said Chris Kempczinski needs to “educate himself” on the matter.
Kempczinski told the Economic Club of Chicago that it was time to face facts and acknowledge that companies have been leaving the city over the past year due to rising crime, and is hurting his company’s ability to recruit top talent.
Parasailing captain faces charges
A Florida parasailing boat captain is facing charges after an Illinois woman died during an incident in the Florida Keys in May. Daniel Couch is charged with one count of manslaughter and five counts of violating commercial parasailing statutes.
According to the arrest warrant, Couch violated several commercial parasailing statutes, with weather and wind speed being contributing factors in the accident in which the woman slammed into a bridge and died.
Police cars struck by motorists
Two more Scott’s Law violations occurred within a few hours of each other.
The first occurred Tuesday night in Chicago when a car failed to yield and struck the back of a squad car. Neither the driver or trooper were injured. The second incident occurred near Collinsville when a semi failed to yield to a squad car with its lights flashing early Wednesday morning. The trooper was able to jump out of the way.
There have been 19 ISP patrol vehicles struck in violation of the Move Over Law with seven troopers sustaining injuries.
Child safety seat checks
The Illinois Department of Transportation announced Friday that certified child passenger safety technicians are offering free car seat safety checks throughout the state as part of Child Passenger Safety Week this week, highlighted by National Seat Check Saturday on Sept. 24.
State law passed in 2019 requires children to ride in a child safety seat until age 8 and rear-facing until age 2. For more information on car seat safety or to locate a certified technician, visit nhtsa.gov/therightseat.
