The Chicago Journal

Chicago mayoral race debate was heated

Nicholas Alexander Nicholas Alexander on March 20, 2023

Chicago – The mayoral candidates in Chicago sparred on Thursday night in a televised debate ahead of the April 4 runoff.

This is the latest big-city mayoral election to put people’ perspectives on crime and policing to the test.

Paul Vallas accused opponent Brandon Johnson of supporting the “defund the police” movement.

Nevertheless, Johnson, a lefty, criticized Vallas’ attempts to expand police officer recruitment as slow and ineffective.

The two mayoral contenders have said that they are Democrats competing in a nonpartisan election.

They advanced to the runoff when incumbent Lori Lightfoot lost her reelection campaign after finishing third in the February 28 primary.

The candidates

Chicago is a Democratic stronghold, with 83% of residents backing President Joseph Biden in the 2020 presidential race.

Johnson and Vallas, although professing to be members of the same party, are on opposing sides of the party’s schism on police problems.

The more conservative candidate is Paul Vallas, a former public school administrator who has the backing of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police.

His campaign revolves around being pro-police and tough on crime.

Vallas vowed to lower the number of municipal police officers while boosting the number of policemen stationed on CTA buses and trains.

Brandon Johnson is a progressive Cook County commissioner who has the backing of the Chicago Teachers Union.

While Johnson has periodically backed the “defund the cops” movement, he has maintained that he would not cut police spending.

Instead, he plans to boost his investments in underserved areas.

The debate

Johnson and Vallas sparred verbally at the mayoral candidate discussion on ABC 7 on Thursday.

Johnson’s prior remarks, in which he broadly favored diverting taxpayer money away from enforcement and toward community-based projects, were brought up by Vallas.

“I’m not going to defund the police, and you know that. You know that,” Johnson responded.

“I have passed multi-billion dollar budgets, over and over again.”

Brandon Johnson went on to announce that he will recruit 200 extra detectives to assist in the investigation of more serious offenses.

He also indicated that he will strive to prevent gun violence by enforcing stronger “red flag” legislation.

Red flag laws allow judges to temporarily seize firearms from those who are judged dangerous to themselves or others.

“The best way to engender confidence in public safety, you’ve got to catch people,” said Johnson.

Similarly, Paul Vallas vowed to quickly fill thousands of police posts.

He intends to station officers in communities and on public transit once the jobs are filled.

“There is no substitute for returning to community-based policing,” said Vallas.

“You can’t have confidence in the safety of public transportation when there are no police officers at the platforms and police officers at the stations.”

As violence in Chicago rose between 2020 and 2021, the mayoral election in Chicago has become increasingly focused on crime.

Shootings and killings have fallen, but other crimes have grown, according to the Chicago Police Department’s 2022 year-end report.

  • Burglaries
  • Car-jacking
  • Robberies
  • Theft

Read also: Lori Lightfoot fails to advance mayoral reelection

A turn in the race

Paul Vallas stood above the fray in the prior discussion, while Brandon Johnson went on the offensive.

Everything changed on Thursday night when Vallas launched an all-out assault in the opening few minutes of the debate, changing the race into a contender with only three debates and three candidate forums remaining.

Vallas attacked Johnson’s proposal to boost hotel and airline fuel taxes, as well as a $4-per-head corporation tax and a higher sales tax on high-end real estate.

Brandon Johnson stated that Vallas is seeking increased spending on public safety without explaining how he intends to fund it.

“You can’t run a multi-billion dollar budget off of bake sales,” he said.

Vallas then chastised Johnson’s participation in school closures.

Brandon Johnson is a teacher who has openly clashed with Lori Lightfoot on the reintroduction of in-person classes.

According to Vallas, 15 months of closures is not an investment in people.

Johnson said that Paul Vallas was making a Republican argument by condemning school closures due to the epidemic.

“That’s a part of your party,” he said.

Johnson attempted to paint Vallas as being too conservative for the blue metropolis.

Endorsement

President Joseph Biden, Illinois Senators Dick Turbin and Tammy Duckworth, and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker all declined to participate in the runoff.

Nonetheless, other national voices have endorsed Brandon Johnson, including:

  • Bernie Sanders
  • Elizabeth Warren
  • Jim Clyburn

Johnson, according to Sanders, has been a champion for Chicago’s working families.

Toni Preckwinkle, President of the Chicago County Board, also supported Johnson.

But, city alderman and former Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has endorsed Paul Vallas.

Image source: Fox32 Chicago

How Much Impact Does Crime Have On The Price Of Rent In Chicago?

Jason Robinson Jason Robinson on December 14, 2022

One of the major issues that concern people looking for a place to rent is the local crime rate. No one wants their home to be in a dangerous neighborhood. Of course, this leads to a situation in which the safest neighborhoods are the most desirable and, therefore, the most expensive.

This is a well-known reality, and there is certainly a lot of truth to it. However, it only tells part of the story. While safer areas are more expensive and dangerous areas are cheaper to rent in, correlation doesn’t imply causation. In other words, it is not always easy to determine cause and effect.

Crime is always a concern, even when you live in a safe neighborhood. The pandemic led to an increase in crime rates after decades of decline. As such, if you rent a place in Chicago, you should have appropriate insurance. You should also install security features in your home to prevent burglaries, which are one of the most common crimes.

Let’s take a look at what the data says about how much of an impact crime has on the price of rent. Then we’ll look at the underlying causes.

The correlation between crime and rent prices

As long as data has been collected, there has always been a correlation between crime and rent prices. Recent data reinforces this. In Chicago, the more crime there is in a neighborhood, the lower the price of rent. There are outliers, but they are the exceptions that prove the rule.

However, this does not necessarily mean that high crime leads to low rent prices. The principle that correlation does not imply causation is one of the cornerstones of the field of statistics. But what exactly does this mean?

Here’s a simple example. If you look at ice cream sales and local temperatures, you will see that as more people buy ice cream, the temperature goes up. If you were looking at this without any context of how the world works, you could come to the conclusion that ice cream sales cause higher temperatures. Of course, we know that the opposite is true, but it is not the data that tells us this.

In the same way, the fact that crime is high in areas where rent is low does not necessarily mean that the high crime rate causes rent to go down. We need a bit more context.

Putting the puzzle together

There’s no doubt that crime is a factor people take into consideration when choosing where to rent. As such, we can comfortably conclude that crime rates have an impact on the price of rent. But the impact is not necessarily so big. We need to look at another reality as well: the correlation between poverty and crime.

Crime isn’t random. The people who commit crimes are not doing so because they just happen to be ‘bad.’ Rather, systemic issues lead to crime. These issues often include a lack of mental health treatment, discrimination, and poverty. Poverty, in particular, is a major factor in what causes crime.

Taking this into consideration, it is not much of a stretch to say that neighborhoods with high poverty rates (and therefore low rent) are most likely to have high crime rates. However, it is not just the high crime rates that lead to the low prices. People struggling with poverty moved there because of the low price of rent.

For Chicagoans looking to rent a cheap apartment, what does this mean?

Crime is unlikely to be a factor

You can take crime into consideration when looking for a place to rent, but if you’re hoping to get low rent by risking living in a dangerous neighborhood, you won’t have much luck. The reality is that the areas in the most desirable locations with high-quality housing are going to be expensive even if crime is slightly high. You’re unlikely to find a great apartment in a good location with low rent because of crime.

Ultimately, no parts of Chicago are free from crime, especially with crime rates rising, and it is a factor you should consider when choosing where to live. Nonetheless, it is unlikely to impact how much you pay in rent so much that it will save you money.

 

Break-ins in Portland force store to close for good

Claire Peterson Claire Peterson on November 28, 2022

Image source: Oregon Live

Break-ins have become a persistent problem in Portland, Oregon, and a clothing store was recently closed for good due to the thefts.

This month, a series of break-ins have left the store in financial ruin.

They then posted a note on the front of the store to announce their closure.

The note

The notice from the clothing store referred to criminal behavior and employee safety concerns as reasons for the closure.

“Our city is in peril,” the Rains PDX store note reads. “Small businesses (and large) cannot sustain doing business in our city’s current state.”

“We have no protection, or recourse, against the criminal behavior that goes unpunished. Do not be fooled into thinking that insurance companies cover losses.”

“We have sustained 15 break-ins,” it continued. “We have not received any financial reimbursement since the 3rd.”

Read also: Elon Musk says SBF didn’t contribute to Twitter buy

The problem

Marcy Landolfo, the store owner, said she had suffered 14 thefts in the past year and a half.

As a result, the business can no longer survive the financial strain it costs the store.

“The problem is, as small businesses, we cannot sustain those types of losses and stay in business,” said Landolfo.

“I won’t even go into the numbers of how much has been out of pocket.”

“The products that are being targeted are the very expensive winter products and I just felt like the minute I get those in the store, they’re going to get stolen.”

Solutions

Last month, Rains PDX faced another break-in.

Meanwhile, Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office is developing a plan to help business owners financially repair their stores.

Marcy Landolfo, however, said tackling crime in Portland isn’t enough.

“Paying for glass, that’s great; but that is so surface and does nothing for the root cause of the problem, so it’s never going to change,” she said.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office said Mayor Wheeler and his team understand the plight of local businesses.

They said companies should pay out of pocket or file a claim with their insurance company.

On Sunday, the spokesperson said:

“For this reason, we’ve worked to increase funding for Business Repair Grants through Prosper Portland, and recently held a Retail Safety Summit to strategize with local business leaders and loss prevention specialists on the retail theft crisis.”

“We are also working with interested property owners to streamline the permitting process to add enhanced lighting to storefronts, which can help deter nighttime break-ins.”

Read also: Jobless claims exceed analyst’s expectations

Theft

In recent years, retail chains across the country have been plagued by break-ins.

The National Retail Federation conducted a study that showed organized retail crime grew 26.5% in 2021, leaving businesses with a multibillion-dollar problem.

Meanwhile, Portland has seen a rise in violent crime in recent years.

A recent 2020 survey found that the city experienced overnight protests and grievances following the death of George Floyd.

2020 also saw a 58% increase in homicides, while 2021 will see a 54% increase.

Reference:

Portland store shuts down, posts blistering note on front door slamming rampant crime: ‘city is in peril’

Hillary Clinton calls out Republicans on their hypocrisy

Leah Cooper Leah Cooper on November 21, 2022

Image source: National Review

Hillary Clinton calls Republicans hypocrites for their focus on crime ahead of Thursday’s 2022 midterm elections.

The former secretary of state told CNN’s Don Lemon that Republicans don’t care about voter safety.

Instead, she implied they want to scare voters.

Hillary Clinton

Donald Trump’s former presidential rival praised President Joe Biden’s efforts to fight inflation, calling the efforts impressive.

However, she added that it was more difficult to “focus on the future” than to deal with complaints.

Hillary Clinton’s attacks on Republicans centered primarily on crime.

She said it was ironic that they did not proactively speak out against the attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Crime has been a significant issue for Republicans throughout the 2022 campaign.

Party members have spent millions attacking Democratic opponents for being soft or connecting them to efforts to defund the police.

Read also: Scott Lennox, Chicago resident, threatens Republican candidate

Hypocrisy

One example Clinton cited of Republican hypocrisy is the contest between Kathy Hochul and Rep. Lee Zeldin, her GOP challenger.

Zeldin condemned the crime in New York in his attempt to become the state’s first Republican governor following George Pataki in 2006.

According to ad tracker AdImpact, Zeldin has aired six TV commercials in the past month, with five focusing on crime.

Some ads showed violent crimes in New York, including shootings and assaults – crimes Republicans blame Hochul for.

According to Hillary Clinton, the Republicans are trying to instill fear and anxiety in the people.

“They are not dealing with it. They are not trying to tackle it,” said Clinton.

“So I view it as an effort to scare voters.”

Response to Pelosi attack

Although Hillary Clinton agreed that crime was a legitimate concern for voters, she suggests that Republicans don’t want to solve the problems.

Instead, they want a problem.

Clinton shows contempt for Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial candidate for mocking the attack on Paul Pelosi.

According to her, the Republican response to the attack indicated where the country is to have people like the Republican candidate who laugh at an attack on a person.

“I am rarely shocked anymore, but making fun of that attack, somehow trying to turn it into a joke, the same party that wants us to be worried about the crime,” she said.

“You know the hypocrisy is incredibly obvious.”

Read also: J. Michael Luttig joins the battle against Trump’s attempt to overturn elections

Campaigns

Although Hillary Clinton is one of America’s most famous Democrats, she has been the least visible figure in the party at election campaign events in recent years.

Her event with Hochul is the first candidate-specific rally she will headline this year.

New York Democrats have called for help, emphasizing the party’s concerns as Election Day approaches.

However, according to polls during a ticket rush in New York in mid-October, Hochul has 50% voter support, while Zeldin has 46%.

Hillary Clinton also noted that the tight race between Hochul and Zeldin is more of a “turnout problem.”

She also expects Kathy Hochul to come out victorious on Tuesday.

Reference:

Clinton accuses Republicans of trying to ‘scare voters’ over crime

Blanchet House struggles to find footing with insurance rates

Claire Peterson Claire Peterson on November 14, 2022

Image source: Jesuit Chronicle

Blanchet House is a Portland-based non-profit social services organization, but like many others, it suffers from the effects of inflation.

According to employees, the non-profit organization faces a growing need with rising costs, disrupting their operations.

Blanchet House

The non-profit organization was founded by students from the University of Portland in 1925.

The students founded the Blanchet House with the encouragement of their priest, who urged them to take to the streets and help people.

Initially, it began as a fraternity called the Blanchet Club, named after Oregon’s first pioneer Catholic priest, Reverend Francis Norbert. Blanket.

The club found a building to perform its services and eventually named it Blanchet House.

Read also: Apple to see iPhone 14 models shipment setback

The situation

The executive director of Blanchet House, Steve Kerman, points to the state of the economy as a source of problems.

“Goods and services are costing us more, and part of that is insurance,” said Kerman.

“It takes a lot of insurance to operate, to do what we do – housing and meal services – and those costs are going up about 20 percent.”

Additionally, Scott Kerman revealed that Blanchet House has enough private money to make ends meet but is worried about the rest of the community.

“What I’m really trying to do is just speak up for the non-profits in our community who have been doing extraordinary work under exceptional and unprecedented circumstances and are dealing with the financial challenges as a result.”

Factors

According to the Northwest Insurance Council, many factors explain the rate hike.

President Kenton Brine said recovery from recent fires and rising repair costs are among the rate hike factors.

“I know that insurers are doing their best to keep cost increases as minimal as possible,” said Brine.

“But inflation and these other cost increases can’t help but begin to show up in premiums that people pay for – home, auto, and business insurance in Oregon.”

Read also: Lyft announce plans of workforce layoff

Policy solutions

The president of the Northwest Insurance Council recommends seeking a policy, suggesting that there is still competition for coverage in places, including downtown Portland.

“Then do other things that you can to try and reduce your risk. If you can protect windows from being smashed, try to do that,” Brine offered.

“If you can keep flammable materials and debris from piling up outside your business in an alley, try and prevent arson – all those things help make you a better risk for insurers to insure.”

According to Brine, crime’s impact is still hard to overlook. 

“It’s certainly going to be helpful if local leaders try to attack the crime problem more aggressively,” suggested Brine.

“And as crime rates go down and people aren’t experiencing as many claims, you’ll see insurance rates stabilize.”

Reference:

Portland non-profits struggle with rising insurance rates

The Importance of Digitizing Documents in Today’s World

Leah Cooper Leah Cooper on October 18, 2022

Society is changing, and so is our environment and the reality that we live in. All of these elements are part of the reasons why digitizing documents in 2022 should be something that everybody does in order to protect themselves, their family, their business and their belongings. As we will show below, modernizing the way we handle our paper trail is of utmost importance to each of us but also to society as a whole. 

Saving Document on PDF Smart: Great Protection in Case of Natural Disasters

It has been a long time since we have been taking from the earth. Most importantly, we have been a major pollution factor, filling our oceans, our lands, and even the air with chemicals. Scientists warned us that we would find ourselves with natural issues in the future if we did not change the way we consume. The ozone layer disappearing was a major warning in itself. Still, we continued almost as if everything was perfectly fine. And now, we have to face the backlash of extremely warm weather causing forest fires and raising the level of other natural disasters, such as hurricanes, thanks to warmer temperatures of water.

When one of those happens where we live, we can end up losing everything we have in the house or at the office. That is the first reason why we need to transfer our paper documents into a digitized version. The best way is to scan them and save them in a PDF format. That includes our legal identity documents, such as our birth certificate, ID card and passport, as well as pictures and receipts of our belongings, so that we can easily make a claim to our insurance company. By placing these documents on a PDF file, you can easily modify them as you acquire new objects simply by using a PDF editor. If you need to add text documents, PDF Smart will enable you to make a format change, and you can do file modifications whenever you need to in the future to keep everything up-to-date.

Digitizing Documents makes Work Easier for Everyone

It is surprising how much paperwork still exists in the world of business. Contracts that are still in physical forms, when you can actually sign them digitally, these days, totally legally. The problem is that paper takes up a lot of space, which the company needs to pay for uselessly. If you digitize all the documents that you have on file, not only will you save on rental space, but you will also make it much more secure this way. That is because you can protect your documents through a variety of ways once they are scanned by keeping them locked away from those who would like to spy on you.

Once documents are digitized, you can have access to them through a click of a mouse. That is definitely a whole lot faster than having to go through a filing cabinet. Especially when the file hasn’t been stored in the right place, and you need to go through a bunch of them before you finally get your hands on it. It also makes it easier to share the file with all the departments. By having the PDF documents on the server, everyone can pick it up, modify the document with PDF Smart and save it again where it belongs in a matter of seconds. We are, indeed, a long way away from the time when you had to pay an employee just to gather up the paper files.

It also helps in case the company ever gets audited. Whereas before, the persons having to do the audit had to go through all the cabinets in order to find what they were looking for, spending a lot of time inside your office and disturbing the work of employees, now you can just give them access to the digitized files. You can even do so from afar by giving them access to your servers or by opening a door for them on The Cloud service that you use to store these documents.

It is obvious that transferring all of our documents, whether personal or related to our business, into PDF files, will make our life better in so many ways. And it will be much easier to modify them, thanks to PDF Smart.