Bugle Newspapers 12-28-23 by Bugle, Sentinel & Enterprise Newspapers

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News from Plainfield • Joliet • Shorewood • Lockport • Crest Hill • Bolingbrook • Romeoville • Downers Grove • Westmont • Woodridge • Lisle • Niles • Morton Grove • Park Ridge & more

DuPage County recognizes small agency grant recipients On Nov. 14, DuPage County Board Members Lucy Chang Evans, Kari Galassi, and Brian Krajewski recognized small nonprofits that received assistance from the County in September. County Board Chair Deborah Conroy and Human Services Committee Chairman Greg Schwarze presented a check to Youth 4 Excellence Director Wendy Williams, who represented all the organizations. The County’s Human Services Committee approved $653,993.20 in grants through the Small Agency Grant Program, which provided up to $25,000 for 37 County agencies that provide programs and services in the areas of economic development (including job readiness and literacy), education and mentoring, housing and shelter, behavioral health services, substance use disorder treatment, or food assistance. To view a full list of agencies awarded a grant, please visit the County’s website.

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Unions look to state for solutions after year of higher ed labor action By andrew adams Capitol News Illinois

At public universities across the state, staff and faculty unions have faced a contentious year of negotiations and, in some cases, strikes. Pay has been a major issue on several campuses and the unions are now looking to Springfield for potential reforms to the state’s higher education funding. At Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, negotiations are ongoing between campus leadership and the union that represents clerical workers. Amy Bodenstab, who works as an office manager in the Department of Teaching and Learning, also picks up weekend shifts at a local domestic violence shelter and contract work in data analytics to make ends meet. She is on the bargaining team of AFSCME Local 2887, which has been without a contract since June 2022. She said the low pay and perceived lack of respect has resulted in high turnover rates, hampering university staff’s ability to do their jobs. She said it’s especially troubling because of the complexity of the positions her union represents, which can involve financial management, purchasing, scheduling and more. “If you’re staff, you’re treated as ‘less than,’” Bodenstab told Capitol News Illinois. Nicole Franklin, a spokesperson for the university, declined to comment specifically on the ongoing negotiations but said the university “continues to bargain in good faith” with the union. But Bodenstab’s experience is echoed on other campuses around Illinois. In mid-November, dozens of building services, clerical and culinary staff at Eastern Illinois University held an “informational picket” as negotiations continued between the local union and administrators at the Charleston campus. “The number one issue is pay,” Kim Pope, an office manager and the head of the local union, said. Negotiations between the building services workers at Northern Illinois University are also ongoing. The head of the union there, Patrick Sheridan, also said pay is the focus of

negotiations. Research published this fall by the Illinois Economic policy Institute, a think tank with strong ties to organized labor, found that pay for staff at state universities is 21 percent less than the rate paid to employees at state agencies who are performing the same or similar work. When controlling for hours worked, occupation and several demographic factors, the research found the average staff pay at state universities is 14 percent less than at state agencies. Robert Bruno, a University of Illinois professor in the School of Labor and Employment Relations and lead author of that report, said these trends made him consider the impact on staff morale. “You worry about turnover, about positions not being filled, about if people don’t feel regarded or respected,” Bruno said. He also noted these trends could be explained by an ongoing trend in higher education. “It starts to look like a more forprofit model,” he said. “Part of that is a lack of support at the state level.” That research and recent university staff negotiations have led union organizations to begin planning a bigger request to the state in next year’s budget talks – an ask that could prove challenging as early estimates from Gov. JB Pritzker’s budgeting office project a revenue shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year. “We’ll be pushing for an appropriation that can be earmarked for wages,” Anders Lindall, a spokesperson for the statewide AFSCME organization, said. He specifically pointed to Bruno’s research as part of the reasoning for this push. “We’re going to be talking to legislators about these systemic pay gaps,” he said. AFSCME is one of the most powerful lobbying organizations in Illinois. In the 2022 election cycle, AFSCME, through its state council and national organization, spent $2.6 million on campaign contributions and expenditures around the state. That includes over $300,000 each in contributions to House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, and Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park.

In addition to staff negotiations, the past 12 months have seen a wave of strikes led by faculty unions. In January, faculty at the University of Illinois Chicago struck for five days. In April, faculty at Chicago State University, Governors State University and Eastern Illinois University all went on overlapping strikes, lasting between five and 13 days. Northeastern Illinois University authorized a strike, although the faculty union there never formally struck. In private higher ed, Columbia College Chicago faculty also went on an unusually long strike which lasted all of November and ended in midDecember. Dan Montgomery, head of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, said after the Columbia strike ended that he had “never seen anything like it in any other year.” “We’re a strong labor state. I think those trends you’re seeing play out in Illinois are playing out around the country,” Montgomery told Capitol News Illinois. “We’re just better organized.” Montgomery said he is “cautiously optimistic” that a new funding model being developed by the Commission on Equitable Public University Funding could help alleviate some of the problems that led to the strikes. The commission, which was created by the General Assembly in 2021, is tasked with developing a new model for funding higher education. The legislature charged the commission with “remediating inequities” in the higher education system that have led to disparities in access for underrepresented students such as Black and Hispanic students and those who come from low-income families. The commission’s work is ongoing but was delayed by this summer’s U.S. Supreme Court decision about affirmative action and race in higher education. While the commission’s work is likely not going to impact next year’s budget, it could create a drastic shift in the long term. The model being developed will be similar to the funding formula used for K-12 schools in Illinois, which was rolled out in 2017. The K-12 model calls for an added $350 million in funding each year and sets a funding adequacy target for

each district. It then directs greater portions of the new funding to the schools furthest from their adequacy target. While the commission has not finalized a formula, some draft meeting materials presented at the board’s November meeting suggest it would require as much as an overall $14,000 per-student increase in state appropriations to fully fund higher education. With 130,000 undergraduates and 56,000 graduate students enrolled at state universities this year, these numbers suggest the needed funding increase could reach into the billions. Lawmakers allocated about $4.5 billion from the state’s general revenue fund to higher education in the current fiscal year. Any recommendations from the commission, however, would need to be approved by the General Assembly, leaving room for doubt

when it comes to fully implementing – and funding – the commission’s recommendations. “The problem is always the problem: finding the funds to do it,” Montgomery said. The state revenue landscape could further compound the challenge. The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget is projecting an $891 million deficit for the upcoming fiscal year 2025, although that number drops to $721 million when accounting for the statutory contribution to the state’s “rainy day” savings fund. “I think it’s a signal that everybody, we need to be careful in Illinois, we have to balance our budget…” Pritzker told Capitol News Illinois when asked about the projection earlier this month. “And so, if that requires us to reduce the increases that may occur in certain programs, maybe that will be necessary.”

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Federal judge declines to stay assault weapons ban ahead of Jan. 1 registration deadline By BeTH HuNSDoRFeRS

A southern Illinois federal judge officially declined to issue an injunction to delay the Jan. 1 registration requirement under the state’s assault weapons ban. U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn issued the 34-page order on Friday. Gun rights advocates requested an emergency injunction to halt the registration of guns and accessories covered in the legislation, known as the

Capitol News illinois

Protect Illinois Communities Act, or PICA, as a condition of continued possession. The gun groups argued the requirements were unconstitutional under the Second and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Lawyers for Federal Firearms Licensees of Illinois, gun rights advocates, gun dealers and three individual gun owners argued that the rules governing the registration of already-owned assault weapons are vague and the state failed to give proper notice to the owners of those weapons. The Illinois attorney general’s office

asked the court to dismiss the due process claims. “This Court will expeditiously conduct a full review of the legal challenges to PICA on the merits. This also points toward foregoing further preliminary wrangling and going straight to an exhaustive review of PICA and the Emergency Rules on the merits,” McGlynn wrote. “Additionally, Illinois FOID cardholders’ level of compliance with the registration scheme will be discernible within mere days. This overall level of compliance will likely be highly relevant to the review of certain claims on the merits.” At a Dec. 12 hearing, McGlynn had foreshadowed that he might decline to issue an injunction. “I think there’s a mess here, and some problems, and I haven’t made my mind up,” McGlynn said at the hearing. “But I do think that entering an injunction today may create more problems than it’s worth.” McGlynn also dismissed the 14th Amendment claim in Friday’s order and declined to address the Second Amendment claims.

During the Dec. 12 hearing, Sean Brady, an attorney for the plaintiffs, argued that the Illinois State Police was still seeking to modify the registration rules in midDecember, underscoring the need for an injunction to halt implementation before the Jan. 1 deadline. Assistant Attorney General Christopher Wells countered that enacting the entire statute should not be delayed due to “the inevitable questions that will follow.” In April, McGlynn issued a separate injunction blocking enforcement of the ban and declaring it unlikely to be found constitutional. Two previous attempts to block the law in northern Illinois courts were also unsuccessful. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago overturned McGlynn’s ruling in June. Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to issue an injunction on PICA and the 7th Circuit declined a request for a full review of a November ruling by the three-judge panel that upheld the gun ban.

oBiTuaRy DoWNS Harold George Downs. Age 91. US Army Veteran of the Korean War. Beloved Husband of the late Lois (nee Grossman). Loving Father of William, Andrew (Catherine), Susan Downs, Harold II (Traci), and Melinda Downs (Mark Plucinski). Cherished Grandfather of Ashley (Jeff) Bergstrom, Harrison, William, Elizabeth, Harold III, Christina, Katie, and Great Grandfather of Hali, Nicholas, Laci, and Austin Bergstrom. Dearest Brother-inlaw of Judy Grossman and Ruth Grossman. Visitation was Wednesday December 6, 2023 at Skaja Terrace Funeral Home 7812 N. Milwaukee Ave. Niles, IL from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM. He was Lying in state at Ascension Lutheran Church 7425 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Niles, IL on Thursday December 7, 2023 from 10:00 AM until the time of the Funeral Service 11:00 AM. The Interment at Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Joliet, IL was private. Harold was the Treasurer of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago for 40 years. He was a Faithful Member of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod.

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LEGAL NOTICE NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR A COMMERCIAL RECREATION FACILITY WITH EXTENDED HOURS OF OPERATION BOLINGBROOK PLAN COMMISSION BOLINGBROOK, ILLINOIS

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICEv

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR A COMMERCIAL RECREATION FACILITY BOLINGBROOK PLAN COMMISSION BOLINGBROOK, ILLINOIS

Certificate No. 34982 was filed in the Office of the County Clerk of WILL COUNTY on December 7, 2023 wherein the business firm of MULLET QUEENS BOUTIQUE Located at 17546 S Gilbert Drive, Lockport, IL 60441 was registered; that the true or real name or names of the person or persons owning the business, with their respective address(es), is/are as follows: Brooke Jenner 17546 S Gilbert Drive Lockport, IL 60441 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and Official Seal at my office in Joliet, Illinois this 7th day of DECEMBER, 2023 Lauren Staley-Ferry County Clerk Published in the Bugle 12/20/23, 12/27/23, 1/3/24

On Wednesday evening, January 17, 2024 at 7:00 p.m., a Public Hearing will be held by the Plan Commission of the Village of Bolingbrook in the Boardroom of Bolingbrook Village Hall, 375 West Briarcliff Road, Bolingbrook, Illinois, for the purpose of considering and hearing testimony as to a Special Use Permit for a Commercial Recreation Facility with Extended Hours of Operation on a tract of property comprising approximately 6.12 acres of land located at 129 S. Weber Road and legally described as follows:

On Wednesday evening, January 17, 2024 at 7:00 p.m., a Public Hearing will be held by the Plan Commission of the Village of Bolingbrook in the Boardroom of Bolingbrook Village Hall, 375 West Briarcliff Road, Bolingbrook, Illinois, for the purpose of considering and hearing testimony as to a Special Use Permit for a Commercial Recreation Facility on a tract of property comprising approximately 8.09 acres of land located at 155 N. Weber Road and legally described as follows:

PIN #: 12-02-17-109-012-0000

PIN #: 12-02-07-420-001-0000

A map of the subject property and a plan which shows the proposed development are available for review at the Bolingbrook Community Development Department, Bolingbrook Village Hall, 375 West Briarcliff Road, Bolingbrook, Illinois.

The foregoing proposal is the result of a petition by Rita DuFresne.

The foregoing proposal is the result of a petition by Graham Robb.

All interested parties are invited to attend the public hearing and will be given an opportunity to be heard.

By order of the Corporate Authorities of the Village of Bolingbrook, Will and DuPage Counties, Illinois.

Certificate Number 2023MR000357 was filed in the office of the County Clerk of WILL COUNTY.

Mir Ali, Chairperson Plan Commission

Publication Notice of court date for request for name change (adult).

Dated this 22nd day of December, 2023

Request of: Kristine Heather Smith To Change Name Listed Below:

Published in the BUGLE newspaper, Thursday, December 28, 2023.

Proposed New Name:

LEGAL NOTICEv

Kristine Heather Bukala The court date will be held on February 1, 2024 at 9:00AM at 100 W Jefferson, Joliet, IL 60432, WILL County in courtroom #905 Andrea Lynn Chasteen Will County Circuit Clerk Twelfth Judicial Court Published 12/20/23, 12/27/23,1/3/24

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