Illinois State News

White House orders a review of exhibits at Smithsonian museums ahead of nation’s 250th birthday

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 20:02:02 +0000

WASHINGTON — The White House is ordering a wide-ranging review of the Smithsonian museums and exhibitions ahead of the country’s 250th birthday with a goal of aligning the institution’s content with President Donald Trump’s interpretation of American history.

In a letter sent Tuesday to Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch III, the White House laid out in detail the steps it expects the organization to take as part of the announced review. The examination will look at all public-facing content, such as social media, exhibition text and educational materials, to “assess tone, historical framing, and alignment with American ideals,” according to the letter.

“This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions,” the letter said.

The Smithsonian said it remained committed to “scholarly excellence, rigorous research, and the accurate, factual presentation of history.”

“We are reviewing the letter with this commitment in mind and will continue to collaborate constructively with the White House, Congress, and our governing Board of Regents,” it said in a statement.

The review, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, is the latest attempt by the president to bring the country’s cultural institutions in line with his vision. In March, Trump signed an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which accused the Smithsonian of coming under the influence of a “divisive, race-centered ideology” and called upon it to “remove improper ideology” from the institution’s museums.

In February, Trump removed the Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees, replaced them with his supporters and named himself chairman. He vowed to end events featuring performers in drag, indicating he would take on a larger role in dictating the institution’s programming schedule.

The review of the Smithsonian will initially focus on eight museums — the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Air and Space Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

The letter said additional museums would be reviewed in subsequent phases.

Civil rights leaders have criticized the administration’s particular focus on the National Museum of African American History and Culture as efforts to minimize Black Americans’ contributions to the country and to recast the obstacles they faced throughout history.

The Smithsonian has repeatedly denied allegations that it has changed or removed exhibit details in response to pressure from the administration. Recently, the institution removed references to Trump’s two impeachments from an exhibit on the American presidency.

A spokesman for the museum said the references, which were added in 2021, were intended to be a temporary measure and said a future exhibit would include details on all presidential impeachments.

The review ordered by the White House directs the museums to submit materials from exhibits and drafts for upcoming events within 30 days. Within 120 days, the letter said, museums will be expected to take corrective action, “replacing divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate, and constructive descriptions.”

West Side man charged in connection to fatal mass shooting in Austin

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 19:39:29 +0000

Authorities have charged an Austin man with killing an 18-year-old and wounding his friend early Sunday in what remained of a massive, social media-advertised gathering that drew thousands of people to a few square blocks in the West Side neighborhood.

Paramedics found Kaleb Williams with two gunshot wounds to the back amid hundreds of people in the 5000 block of West Maypole Avenue just after 4:30 a.m. Sunday.

Williams’ friend, also 18, told police that someone driving a white car approached them upset about their vehicle’s broken sunroof and began shooting, according to a police report. Williams was pronounced dead shortly afterward at Stroger Hospital. His friend was wounded in the shoulder.

Ortez Owens, 35, was arrested shortly after Williams was killed and faces felony counts of murder, attempted murder and armed robbery, police announced Tuesday.

According to an arrest report, police identified Owens as the driver of a white Toyota Camry, adding that he was captured on video shooting Williams. Owens also took Williams’ backpack, the arrest report alleged. Authorities on Sunday approved a search warrant in connection with Williams’ killing, police sources said.

Earlier that night, six other people were shot, including a 22-year-old woman who died of her wounds. As of Tuesday, police said, no one was in custody for that shooting.

Owens is set to appear in court for a detention hearing Wednesday, police said.

In Illinois, Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries says affordability could be key message for the midterms

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 19:27:35 +0000

SPRINGFIELD — As national Democrats continue looking for a message that will resonate with the American public enough to put them back in power, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Tuesday it could be as simple as: “America is too expensive.”

Speaking in Illinois’ state capital about President Donald Trump and GOP funding cuts to public aid and benefit programs, the New York City congressman argued high costs continue to plague average Americans.

“Housing costs are too high. Grocery costs are too high. Utility costs are too high. Insurance costs are too high. Child care costs are too high,” Jeffries said, flanked by U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, both of Springfield. “America is too expensive. We need to drive down the high cost of living. Donald Trump has failed to do it.”

Before arriving in Springfield, where he’s expected to appear Wednesday with Gov. JB Pritzker at the Illinois State Fair, Jeffries hit the same message on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” As dozens of Texas Democrats fled their state for Illinois to prevent Republicans from passing a gerrymandered Texas congressional map to gain GOP seats for the midterm elections, Jeffries said the GOP efforts are happening “because Republicans don’t have any track record of accomplishment that is designed to focus on the American people, to make life better for the American people, to lower costs for the people of Texas and beyond. And so they want to rig the elections to cling on to power.”

Jeffries’ comments come as the midterms have begun to take shape more than six months after Trump took office. On economic issues, Trump has instituted a wide array of tariffs, which have increased some consumer costs and created uncertainty for businesses and the financial markets. In July, the consumer price index, which measures the average change in pricing over time, rose 2.7% over the last year for all urban consumers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

During their event in Springfield, Jeffries, Budzinski and Durbin said massive tax breaks for the wealthy and spending cuts that were cornerstones of Trump’s domestic legislation will deprive many Americans of federal health care funding, food assistance and early childhood education programs.

“Democrats are committed to fixing a broken health care system and making sure that health care is available to everyday Americans that’s affordable and accessible when they need it,” Jeffries said. “And lastly, we have to clean up corruption in Washington, D.C., and deliver a government that actually works for the people and not for the privileged few.”

Although Democrats are out of power in Washington, Jeffries, who has served in the U.S. House since 2013, said he thinks the party has gained traction since Trump won the White House and Republicans took control of both chambers in Congress. Since then, Jeffries noted a Democratic-backed judge won a coveted seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and he said Trump has become “deeply unpopular,” following the tax break and spending measure.

“There is a reason why Donald Trump has ordered Republicans to engage in mid-decade gerrymandering of the congressional map. It’s because he wants to rig the midterm elections,” Jeffries said. “Republicans are on the run all across America.”

Jeffries on “Morning Joe” also spoke in support of the Texas House Democrats who traveled to the Chicago area and elsewhere to prevent the Texas House from establishing a quorum to vote on a new congressional map pushed by Republicans. Jeffries said the whole saga has shown how voters across the U.S. should be “able to choose the people they want to represent them in Washington, as opposed to politicians and party bosses choosing their voters.”

“The Texas Democrats are standing up for the principle of free and fair elections,” Jeffries said. “Nothing is more American than that. We are at an all-hands-on-deck moment. And so, I certainly support the principle that we have to utilize every single tool in the toolbox in California, in New York, here in Illinois, from coast to coast.”

U.S. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks against Texas redistricting efforts at a news conference in Austin on July 31, 2025. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman)

The Texas Democrats have been joined by Pritzker and other Democrats in accusing Republicans of kowtowing to Trump, whose administration is encouraging similar actions in other GOP-led states as a means of holding the party’s slim majority in the U.S. House in next year’s midterm elections for the remainder of Trump’s second term. They have noted repeatedly that political maps are usually redrawn only once per decade following the U.S. census, and have said Republicans are trying to change the rules and disenfranchise Texas citizens for purely political reasons.

Texas Republicans have countered that the congressional maps in many Democratic states, including Illinois, are gerrymandered. Pritzker has said that Illinois’ 14-3 Democratic majority congressional map passed legal muster.

As Republicans try to force Democrats back to Texas to vote on the remap, GOP Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and others filed a petition — in what at least one legal expert called long-shot litigation — with a western Illinois court to compel Illinois law enforcement to enforce civil warrants from the Republican Texas House speaker against the Democratic lawmakers who sought refuge in Illinois.

On Tuesday, Jeffries also addressed U.S. Sen. John Cornyn’s threat from last week of getting the FBI involved in trying to ensure the lawmakers return to Texas — a request from the veteran Texas Republican that he said was granted by the law enforcement agency. Jeffries called Cornyn’s actions “pitiful” as he’s trying to “weaponize the FBI” for political purposes at a time when he faces a contentious primary reelection bid against Paxton, who is vying for Cornyn’s seat.

“It’s sad because the senator has (presented) himself for decades as someone of integrity,” Jeffries said of Cornyn on “Morning Joe.” “And now that he’s in the race of his life and is on his way to losing the Texas Republican primary for his own reelection, he is targeting elected officials who he believes are his adversaries solely for political gain.”

“The FBI obviously should be focused on doing other things in terms of targeting child predators, terrorists or drug traffickers, not being used as political pawns in a game that (Texas Gov.) Greg Abbott and John Cornyn and Texas Republican Party bosses are trying to utilize for their own political power,” Jeffries said on “Morning Joe.” “This is the same principle connected to the fact that you have more than 100 people who’ve lost their lives in Texas, including dozens of children, tragically in the historic flooding. There is clear evidence that there has been mismanagement or failure to act decisively.”

Student sues, alleging CPS failed to do a ‘thorough’ background check on guard charged with assaulting her

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 19:25:47 +0000

A Chicago Public Schools student accused the Board of Education in a lawsuit filed Tuesday of failing to run a “thorough” background check on a security guard who had been arrested several times and was later charged with sexually assaulting the girl.

“He was someone that shouldn’t have been allowed in a position where he’s protecting people and protecting their health and safety. It’s as simple as that,” said the girl’s attorney Mark Brown, a managing partner at Lane Brown LLC. “The laziness of CPS hiring committee is what is at fault here.”

The then 43-year-old security guard, Romel Campoverde, was arrested in 2023 and charged with criminal sexual assault of the 15-year-old student at Farragut Career Academy High School in the Little Village neighborhood. Prosecutors said at the time that he began Snapchatting with the girl and met her outside of school, buying her alcohol and shoes.

The student, who recently turned 18 and switched to a different CPS school, filed the suit against the Chicago Board of Education and the former guard anonymously as Jane Doe in Cook County Circuit Court. The suit alleged that Campoverde started giving her compliments on her looks and texting her on a “regular basis” in 2022 while she was a freshman at Farragut.

Campoverde gave the girl alcohol to the point of intoxication in June 2023, and then brought her into an RV where he took off her clothes and sexually assaulted her, the suit and prosecutors have alleged. She told an after-school program employee the day after the alleged assault, and police found two of her press-on nails in the RV, prosecutors said.

Campoverde has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has a status hearing set for later this month, court records show. He remains on electronic monitoring.

Campoverde’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment via phone or email. His former attorney told WTTW in 2023 that Campoverde is “innocent until proven guilty” and that his criminal history isn’t relevant to the sexual assault case.

Before the alleged assault and prior to being hired at Farragut in 2021, Campoverde was arrested more than 15 times and was found guilty of disorderly conduct, one cannabis possession case in Lake County and trespassing in Will County, the lawsuit and court records state. He’s never been convicted of a violent crime, however, and most of the charges against him were dismissed.

While some of the arrests were for minor offenses such as cannabis possession, others were more serious. He was arrested for battery in May 2010 after allegedly striking a man in the face with a closed fist during an argument, according to the lawsuit and a police report. That charge was dismissed weeks later, court records show.

Five years earlier, officers arrested Campoverde after he allegedly pulled out a silver BB gun on a man he attempted to buy marijuana from, a police report said. He was charged with aggravated assault, which was dismissed.

Multiple arrest reports list Campoverde as a Satan Disciple street gang member, police records show.

The lawsuit accuses the board of putting the student in danger by failing to conduct a “comprehensive background check” and investigate Campoverde’s prior “dangerous behavior.” Brown said CPS hired Campoverde with what he characterized as a “scant investigation.”

Once the hiring committee received the criminal background check from law enforcement organizations, Brown said, they should have done a deeper dive into the circumstances of the arrests. He said it’s his understanding from viewing Brown’s personnel file that CPS “blew off” the situation and didn’t ask for an explanation of the arrests.

“They violated their own policies. They didn’t get these explanations from Campoverde. They didn’t review the arrest reports. They didn’t even have the arrest reports in their personnel file. They did zero investigation,” Brown said. “It’s a travesty.”

A CPS spokesperson said in a statement that the board doesn’t comment on pending or ongoing litigation, but that the district “remains committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of its students.”

According to CPS’ website, all district employee candidates are required to have background checks. The board conducts checks with the FBI, Illinois State Police, sex offender registries and the Department of Children and Family Services, among others, the website states.

For arrests that don’t result in convictions, the district “may obtain or utilize information other than the arrest record that indicates whether an individual engaged in the conduct alleged in the arrest record,” the website says. If they determine an applicant did engage in the conduct, the district weighs factors such as “nature and gravity of the offense” and the “nature of job held or sought” in making a hiring decision.

Candidates can be asked to provide arrest reports, case incident reports, letters of explanation or other documentation if they have a criminal history, according to the website.

The Office of Inspector General’s Sexual Allegations Unit received nearly 154 allegations of sexual misconduct at CPS from July 1, 2024 to March 21, 2025. Complaints against security guards made up about 9% of allegations. A former Dunbar Career Academy student also sued the board late last year, alleging it failed to protect him from sexual abuse by a guard.

The OIG formed this unit in 2018 following a Chicago Tribune report that exposed conflicts of interest in investigations formerly helmed by the CPS Law Department. Citing “appalling” districtwide “failures” in CPS’ handling of sexual abuse allegations, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights entered the district into a legally binding agreement in 2019, mandating reforms and federal monitoring.

The lawsuit said that the girl continues to suffer “severe and permanent emotional distress,” including embarrassment, loss of self-esteem and humiliation that prevent her from living her life normally. Brown said she’s “devastated” and that it’s been a “very difficult couple of years for her.”

Brown said his client missed school for a year because she was too afraid to enter the building. After taking a year off, she switched schools because she couldn’t face the staff or other students at Farragut. She’s still having nightmares and flashbacks of the assault, and is in therapy to help her through it, Brown said.

“Our teenage years are some of the most important, informative years that we have, not only in building who we are, but building our relationships with our friends that we’ve grown up with and gone to school with,” Brown said. “She’s lost that. She’s lost the ability to go to school with her peers. She’s lost her innocence.”

Mayor Johnson’s CPS chief resists City Hall borrowing plan, pension payment as budget deadline looms

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 19:09:49 +0000

Chicago Public Schools interim chief Macquline King is resisting pressure from Mayor Brandon Johnson to make a controversial pension payment and borrow millions of dollars to settle the district’s budget, a notable twist in what has become a deeply uncertain budget cycle for the fourth-largest school district in the nation.

Several city officials met with CPS leadership last Thursday without King to lay out recommendations aimed at helping her close a $734 million deficit by the end of August, according to several board members who spoke to the Tribune.

Among their suggestions was taking out a $200 million loan and asking for new state revenue, while accepting responsibility for a controversial $175 million pension payment, previously covered by the city. King initially opposed all of their major proposals, board members who spoke to the Tribune said.

King held meetings with aldermen and state representatives Tuesday, but did not discuss budget specifics or the $175 million pension payment, according to those who attended. It’s not clear whether the district plans to avoid borrowing altogether or do a smaller amount than previously proposed.

But King’s resistance to the city’s proposals could have far-reaching consequences, not just for the district’s financial outlook, but for its political future. Johnson, a former teacher and longtime Chicago Teachers Union organizer, has strongly supported borrowing as a way to avoid deeper school-level cuts to staffing and classroom services. His appointed school board president, Sean Harden, has echoed that stance.

Critics warn the city’s proposed loan — likely a high-interest, long-term borrowing plan — could further harm CPS’ already fragile credit rating.

The school year begins Aug. 18, the first time in recent memory that the district will open classrooms without an approved budget in place. CPS must lay out a budget proposal at a school board meeting on Wednesday, with a final vote expected later this month.

CPS and King did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

At an unrelated Tuesday news conference, the mayor criticized the intense scrutiny on the loan as “the focal point for a couple of people” while taking care to avoid delving into its merits.

“No parent has ever come up to me and asked that question. Not one,” Johnson shot back when pressed about the $200 million borrowing plan. “This is about the long-term solvency and sustainability of a school district that overwhelmingly services working people, overwhelmingly brown and Black. … How much more can Black and brown people tolerate in terms of things being snatched away from them?”

Still, the mayor confirmed that “everything” was on the table when asked about the loan.

Mayor Brandon Johnson answers questions from the media during a Q&A session at City Hall on Aug. 12, 2025. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

With the majority of the school board aligned with Johnson and a former city official at the district’s helm, it might seem the mayor’s budget strategy would face little resistance. But the path forward is murky. Board members, both aligned and not aligned with the mayor’s agenda, are split on how best to handle the district’s budget challenges.

For months, observers have closely watched King’s approach to tackling the district’s fiscal crisis. She stepped into the role in June following the departure of former CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, who clashed with Johnson over similar fiscal strategies during contentious contract talks with the teachers union last fall. This will be the second time that CPS leadership has taken a stand against the mayor’s borrowing requests, after the mayor’s handpicked board resigned en masse last October amid controversy about a loan.

Though tensions ran high between the mayor and CPS leadership last year, Johnson struck a conciliatory tone Tuesday, calling King “certainly qualified to lead in this moment.”

The latest chapter in Chicago’s waning days of mayoral control over CPS comes after the drama over Johnson’s handling of the district dominated his second year in office and dealt him heavy political damage from opponents and progressives alike.

How the mayor chooses to navigate this incoming storm of fiscal conundrums — which he often reminds the public did not start under him — could have far-reaching impacts for his electoral future as well as the city’s and district’s financial course.

For now, tensions between the mayor and his interim chief, King, have not reached the point they were last year, when Johnson began a monthslong process to fire Martinez. Asked whether King or the future permanent CEO could go the route of Martinez, the mayor said “no.”

As Chicago’s former senior director of education policy, King was the only final candidate for interim CEO with City Hall ties — leading some to believe she might back Johnson’s CPS budget approach. The mayor still holds control over the majority of the partly elected, partly appointed school board until 2027, when it transitions to a fully elected body.

A hybrid board, disentanglement

The hybrid school board is the result of 2021 state legislation that sought to disentangle CPS finances from city finances, a prospect that has become harder to realize as board members look to aldermen to unlock funds earmarked for specific projects in special taxing districts, hoping to use the money to close a budget gap of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Currently, King is hoping to secure about $100 million more than the $300 million the district received last year from aldermanic allocations in those taxing districts, according to board members.

Chicago Public Schools interim CEO Macquline King, center, attends a community engagement session to discuss the CPS budget at Dyett High School on July 14, 2025, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Another complication is the $175 million pension reimbursement to the city for nonteacher employees, which was formerly the city’s responsibility and got pushed to CPS under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The district is not required to make the payment by state law. It didn’t make the payment last year due to its financial constraints, and the city had to eat the costs.

In the past, aldermen — facing their own budget constraints — have threatened to reduce funding from their taxing districts to the district if the CPS didn’t step up on the pension obligation.

Following King’s inclination to push the payment back to City Hall, the mayor’s office scheduled several budget briefings with CPS, CTU and the principals’ union to meet with groups of state representatives and aldermen on Tuesday, according to an email reviewed by the Tribune. The goal of the briefings was to “facilitate a conversation about how to address the deficit and maintain the staffing our schools need.” In the email, King’s first name is misspelled.

As news of the briefings emerged, a former labor ally of Johnson’s issued a letter to aldermen and school board members accusing him of excluding the union.

“The Mayor’s office can keep us from the table, but our voice will not be silenced,” Service Employees International Union Local 73 President Dian Palmer wrote on Monday.

SEIU was invited later that night, Palmer said, and spoke at Tuesday’s briefings to say she stood by her letter — to warn the district against more borrowing.

“The rumors of loans, I’m very, very afraid of, because when they come back to be repaid, it’ll come back on the backs of low-wage earners,” Palmer told the Tribune. “I’ve taken out loans. I’m sure you have too. When you start making those payments, it’s not the $500 you borrowed. It’s $589.”

Other aldermanic sources who attended Tuesday’s briefings said city and district leaders avoided addressing borrowing or the pension payment, saying that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss savings, not budget specifics. Slides obtained by the Tribune from the briefings show that King is eyeing $126 million in cuts, mostly to the central office.

After King took over for Martinez in mid-June, CPS has already chipped away at the district’s budget gap through finding efficiencies — cutting hundreds of custodians, ending hot lunch programs, eliminating crossing guard positions and downsizing staff at the district’s central office.

Board member Ed Bannon of District 1 on the Far North Side said the state needs to step in further, pointing to research — first reported by the Sun-Times — that CPS has only 73% of the funding it needs to give students what it deems an “adequate” education.

“You don’t pay a mechanic 73% of the job, and expect your car to run,” Bannon said. “You don’t pay a roofer 73% of what they charge you, and expect your roof not to leak.”

The relationship between board members and state officials will be even more important moving forward, said Illinois Democrat Rep. Ann Williams, who helped draft the school board legislation and attended one of Tuesday’s briefings.

“Having a cohesive ask or plan would be helpful as we have those conversations,” said Williams.

For now, board members and Chicago officials remain far from having a cohesive plan. Without borrowing, King’s remaining options to address the shortfall come down to further cuts, refinancing existing debt or getting more money from the city and state. Both depend heavily on negotiations that are still taking shape.

Johnson, meanwhile, did not back away from the city’s position, maintaining that CPS is expected to handle the pension payment.

“Well, that’s certainly the expectation,” he said.

Mexico expels 26 cartel figures wanted by US authorities in deal with Trump administration

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 19:07:01 +0000

WASHINGTON — Mexico has expelled 26 high-ranking cartel figures to the United States in the latest major deal with the Trump administration as American authorities ratchet up pressure on criminal networks sending drugs across the border, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The cartel leaders and other prominent figures were being flown from Mexico to the U.S. on Tuesday, the person said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the operation that was still ongoing.

Those being handed over to U.S. custody include Abigael González Valencia, a leader of “Los Cuinis,” a group closely aligned with notorious cartel Jalisco New Generation or CJNG. Another person, Roberto Salazar, is accused of participating in the 2008 killing of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, the person said.

Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office and Security ministry confirmed the transfers, which were carried out after a promise from the U.S. Justice Department that prosecutors would not seek the death penalty in any of the cases.

It’s the second time in months Mexico has expelled cartel figures accused of narcotics smuggling, murder and other crimes amid mounting pressure from the Trump administration to curb the flow of drugs across the border. In February, Mexico handed over to American authorities 29 cartel figures, including drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985.

Those transfers came days before 25% tariffs on Mexican imports were to take effect. Late last month, President Donald Trump spoke with Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum and agreed to put off threatened 30% tariffs for another 90 days to allow for negotiations.

Sheinbaum has shown a willingness to cooperate more on security than her predecessor, specifically being more aggressive in pursuit of Mexico’s cartels. But she has drawn a clear line when it comes to Mexico’s sovereignty, rejecting suggestions by Trump and others of intervention by the U.S. military.

The Trump administration made dismantling dangerous drug cartels a key priority, designating CJNG and seven other Latin American organized crime groups foreign terrorist organizations.

Abigael González Valencia is the brother-in-law of CJNG leader Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, a top target of the U.S. government. He was arrested in February 2015 in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, and had been fighting extradition to the United States since then.

Alongside his two brothers, he led “Los Cuinis,” which financed the founding and growth of the CJNG, one of the most powerful and dangerous cartels in Mexico. CJNG traffics hundreds of tons of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl into the United States and other countries and is known for extreme violence, murders, torture, and corruption.

One of his brothers, José González Valencia, was sentenced in Washington’s federal court in June to 30 years in a U.S. prison after pleading guilty to international cocaine trafficking. Jose González Valencia was arrested in 2017 under the first Trump administration at a beach resort in Brazil while vacationing with his family under a fake name.

Verza reported from Mexico City

Illinois students could see new testing standards with proposed state board revisions

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 18:51:51 +0000

Illinois students could be held to new standards for school testing, a shift the state school board says will better prepare them for college and postsecondary education careers while accurately measuring performance levels.

The Illinois State Board of Education announced proposed changes to state standardized testing Tuesday — including the ACT, the Illinois Assessment of Readiness and the Illinois Science Assessment — that would create consistent measures of student performance on all state exams and make it easier to understand and track students’ progress. It would also adjust the proficiency threshold for each exam section based on grade level, determining the minimum score a student must achieve to be considered on track for their grade level in learning.

There are three major exams that Illinois students take while in school: The Illinois Assessment of Readiness is administered to students in grades three through eight each year to test their skills in English language arts and math, while the Illinois Science Assessment is only administered to students in fifth and eighth grades. Students take the PreACT in ninth and 10th grade and the ACT in 11th grade.

Currently, the three exams do not use the same levels or benchmarks to assess student learning based on their exam scores. The current testing measurements have multiple performance levels for students to be sorted into, which are categories of score ranges on the state assessment.

The varied scores from test to test can create confusion for parents and students due to the lack of consistency, Illinois State Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders said at a Tuesday media briefing.

The change will allow the board to alleviate this confusion with a proposed new uniform scoring system on each test: “below proficient,” “approaching proficient,” “proficient” and “above proficient.”

While the Illinois Science Assessment evaluates students in four levels — emerging, developing, proficient and exemplary — the Illinois Assessment of Readiness places students into five categories based on their scores: “does not meet” (expectations), “partially meets,” “approaching meets,” “meets expectations” and “exceeds expectations.”

A student is considered proficient when they are on track for their grade level in learning, and a proficiency benchmark is the score a student needs to be on track in their grade. The state determines these benchmarks.

According to the board, there is currently a mismatch between proficiency thresholds in the different sections of exams — English language arts, science and math. The threshold for proficiency in science according to a student’s exam score is too low, while the proficiency threshold for a student in English language arts and math is too high.

This resulted in students excelling in class but not reaching the proficiency mark on exams, which can lead to discouragement in students when they think about their future options postgraduation, Sanders said. He gave the example of multiple former students, now in college, who excelled in advanced placement classes and had high GPAs but did not receive proficient scores on state standardized tests.

“If they had listened to us, they might not have enrolled in college. Maybe they wouldn’t even have enrolled in dual credit (classes) while they were still in high school,” Sanders said. “… Thankfully, they didn’t listen to what these cut scores told them and instead pursued these higher opportunities. But think about the kids that did not.”

That all three required standardized tests — the ACT, Illinois Assessment of Readiness and Illinois Science Assessment — have different benchmarks for proficiency creates a sense of inconsistency and does not accurately reflect a student’s level of college or career readiness, Sanders said.

“They’re misaligned with what it actually means to succeed in college and career,” Sanders said. “This misalignment has serious, real-world consequences. Students are being denied opportunities for acceleration, misidentified as needing interventions or believing, as I said earlier, that they’re not ready to go into college.”

This discrepancy in results can be confusing for families and students trying to determine readiness levels for classes, college or careers, especially when they do well in school but do not meet the state’s level of proficiency. The new measurements aim to change that, Sanders said. For English language arts in the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, the proficiency threshold would be lowered from 750 to 735, increasing by two points each grade until they take the exam for the last time in grade eight.

Prep books, pencils and calculators are just some of the items used by students attending an SAT prep class at Glenbard North High School in Carol Stream in 2018. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

The proficiency threshold for math on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness would also be lowered from 750 to 732. The proficiency levels for the math section would rise to 740 for grades four and five, 742 for grade six, and 745 for grades seven and eight.

As for the Illinois Science Assessment, which is administered only to fifth and eighth graders, students will have to increase their scores to 812 to be considered proficient. The current proficiency score is 799.

The changes to the performance measures were initially put into motion last year when the ACT became a state-mandated exam to measure high school performance. This shift required the establishment of new performance standards for high schools.

For students in grade nine taking the PreACT, an English language arts section score of 14 is proficient, while a math section score of 17 and a science section score of 14 meet proficiency standards. There are no prior proficiency levels to measure the proposed scores against because the state switched to the ACT this spring, the board said.

For grade 10 students, a PreACT English language arts section score of 15, a math section score of 18 and a science section score of 16 would be proficient.

Additionally, the proposed changes aim to align students taking the ACT in their junior year of high school with the scores necessary to get into college, pass college coursework and succeed in the workforce, the board said. The ACT is scored out of 36 and has an English language arts, math and science section. The new proficiency scores would be an English language arts score of 18, a math score of 19 and a science score of 19.

The board spoke with educators, community members, student leaders and policy makers over an 18-month period to create new rubrics describing the range of performance expected in each performance level. Educators also took the exams to evaluate their difficulty and help determine what are known as “cut scores” — the scores that differentiate one performance level from another, such as “proficient” from “above proficient.”

While two-thirds of Illinois high school graduates go on to enroll in a two- or four-year college within a year of graduating, the current state assessment levels indicate that less than half that number of students are proficient in English language arts, and an even smaller number are proficient in math.

The updated proficiency standards and performance levels help capture “the full spectrum of skills students are developing,” CPS sixth grade teacher Comfort Agboola said at the meeting.

“(The standards) acknowledge growth in ways that can motivate rather than discourage,” Agboola said. “When students believe they are proficient or see themselves as getting closer, they are more willing to take risks, engage deeply with challenging text and push themselves further than they thought was possible.”

Scott Rowe, superintendent of High School District 214 in the Arlington Heights area, added at the meeting that these changes would help accurately reflect a student’s readiness and allow school districts to know where more support might be needed.

“Past benchmarks often miss the mark, but this step moves us closer to measuring real performance and readiness,” Rowe said. “It also tells a more accurate story of the high quality instruction and postsecondary readiness our teachers are delivering for our communities across the state.”

Gun threat defused at Gary West Side

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 18:03:44 +0000

As students boarded buses at the West Side Leadership Academy in Gary Tuesday afternoon, police and school security officers arrested an unidentified male who officials said was armed with a gun.

In a social media post, officials said the male came on campus as students began boarding buses at the end of the school day at about 3:30 p.m.

The post said the male was allegedly searching for a student who had harmed one of his relatives.

No one was injured, officials said.

Tuesday marked the third day of school for students in the Gary Community School Corp.

AbbVie to invest $195 million in North Chicago facility that will produce active pharmaceutical ingredients

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 17:51:52 +0000

Pharmaceutical company AbbVie announced Tuesday that it will construct a new $195 million facility near its headquarters in North Chicago, Illinois.

AbbvVie is one of the largest biomedical companies in the world, ranking just below Pfizer in revenue. The company is known for its production of Humira, a treatment for autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s, and Botox.

The new facility will be used for the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients, the part of a medication that creates the intended effects. That’s in contrast to inactive ingredients, which are ingredients such as dyes or binding agents that do not contribute to the health effects of the medication.

Construction on the site will begin in the fall and is expected to be finished by 2027. North Chicago is already home to both corporate offices and manufacturing sites for AbbVie, which employ over 11,000 people in Illinois.

The project is in line with Gov. JB Pritzker’s Illinois 2024 Economic Growth Plan, which identifies pharmaceutical manufacturing as an area with “ significant prospects for growth.” The industry provides 260,000 jobs in Illinois, according to the plan.

The expansion is also part of the Illinois Department of Commerce’s Economic Development for a Growing Economy program, which provides benefits for companies committing to investments of $100 million or more in Illinois.

In April, AbbVie publicly committed to investing $10 billion in its U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturing operations from now until 2035.

In May, President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing federal agencies to work to increase domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing. So far, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lily have also committed to billions in domestic pharmaceutical production investments.

Former Chicago Public Schools dean sentenced to 22 years in prison for sexually abusing student

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 17:31:29 +0000

A Cook County judge on Tuesday sentenced a former Chicago Public Schools dean to 22 years in prison for sexually abusing a student while she attended the Little Village high school where he oversaw disciplinary matters.

Last month, a jury convicted Brian Crowder, 43, of multiple felony counts after the former student, now a 26-year-old woman, took the stand for hours and testified that he coerced her into a relationship years earlier. After deliberating for around three hours, the panel also acquitted him of three of the seven felony sex charges he faced.

The sentencing resolves the criminal case even as attorneys handling a pending lawsuit against Crowder and the school district lambasted CPS officials and employees for allowing the abuse to continue and even, they said, defending Crowder as part of the sentencing hearing.

CPS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

During the hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, Judge Stanley Sacks ordered Crowder to serve three consecutive terms of 12 years, five years and five years, according to court records.

The case went before a jury as CPS’ handling of sexual abuse allegations has been the subject of scrutiny in recent years and as Crowder is also named in a 2024 lawsuit that accuses CPS of failing to protect its students.

In 2018, the Chicago Tribune’s “Betrayed” investigation revealed failures in how the nation’s fourth-largest school district handled allegations of abuse, including neglecting to report accusations to police or child welfare investigators and failing to conduct effective background checks.

In the civil complaint, the woman, who the Tribune isn’t naming because she is the victim in a sexual assault case, accuses employees at Little Village Lawndale High School of failing to act when an inappropriate relationship between Crowder and the student was noticed by others who “would joke about how much time was spent alone” between Crowder and the student.

“Brian Crowder’s sentencing is a critical milestone in our client’s long and courageous fight for justice. She confronted her abuser, endured years of retraumatization through the legal process, and in doing so, ensured he could never harm another student,” her attorneys, Martin Gould and Nicholas Wainwright, said in a statement. “Her bravery deserves the highest recognition.”

The attorneys called out “multiple district employees” who they said submitted character references for the sentencing hearing.

“CPS failed in its most basic duty — to protect its students,” the statement said. “That failure is laid bare by the disturbing fact that multiple CPS employees, including another dean and a head of security, defended Crowder in court.”

Crowder was an associate dean at the Social Justice High School, a part of Little Village Lawndale High School when the woman testified that he approached her in the school’s lunchroom when she was around 15 and asked her for her SnapChat username. The relationship eventually became sexual, she said.

“He wasn’t just a teacher. At that point he was the dean of discipline,” Assistant State’s Attorney Sarah Kofoed said during closing arguments at the trial, adding that he controlled whether she received punishments at school. “He controlled the relationship because he was in power.”

Illinois State women face tall task in defending Wisconsin's Williams

Wed, 27 Mar 2024 19:00:00 +0000

ISU hopes to advance to the WNIT quarterfinals.

Rubley, Loyd bring passing game chemistry to Illinois State

Wed, 27 Mar 2024 16:15:00 +0000

Rubley and Loyd transferred from Kansas State.

Illinois State softball takes two of three from Murray State

Mon, 25 Mar 2024 11:30:00 +0000

ISU won on Friday and Sunday.

Perry's pitching allows Illinois State baseball to close Bradley series with a win

Mon, 25 Mar 2024 03:45:00 +0000

Bradley won the first two games of the weekend.

DeAnna Wilson delivers late to send Illinois State women past Charleston

Mon, 25 Mar 2024 02:45:00 +0000

ISU advances to the WNIT's round of 16.

Hannah Kelle back in action for Illinois State women ahead of WNIT game

Sat, 23 Mar 2024 18:00:00 +0000

The Redbirds meet College of Charleston on Sunday in the WNIT.

Illinois State women get first-round bye in WNIT, play at home Sunday

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 17:15:00 +0000

ISU will make its fourth straight postseason appearance.

Illinois State rips five home runs, topples Northern Illinois

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 16:30:00 +0000

The Redbirds improved to 10-9.

Leadoff home run from Lawrence ignites Illinois State baseball triumph

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 16:00:00 +0000

The Redbirds are 9-9 on the season.

Illinois scores big late to upend Illinois State in nonconference softball

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 16:00:00 +0000

The contest was scoreless through four innings.

Northern Iowa clings to early lead, ousts Illinois State from MVC Tournament

Sat, 16 Mar 2024 15:00:00 +0000

The fifth-seeded Redbirds led for a mere 15 early first-quarter seconds and fell short to the fourth-seeded Panthers 79-75 in a quarterfinal game.

Illinois State women cruise past Evansville in MVC Tournament opener

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 17:45:00 +0000

The Redbirds meet Northern Iowa in the quarterfinals Friday at 2:32 p.m.

Maya Wong having best season entering Missouri Valley Conference Tournament

Wed, 13 Mar 2024 19:00:00 +0000

MOLINE — Illinois State women's basketball coach Kristen Gillespie believes Maya Wong has been exposed for what she really is.

Belmont's 3-point barrage sends Illinois State women to defeat

Sun, 10 Mar 2024 03:00:00 +0000

ISU will be the No. 5 seed in next week's MVC Tournament.

Reinhardt: Progress shown in Ryan Pedon's second season as Illinois State coach

Sat, 09 Mar 2024 19:00:00 +0000

ISU was 15-17 in the season that ended Thursday, four games better than the previous year.

Illinois State never catches up in MVC Tournament loss to Evansville

Fri, 08 Mar 2024 19:00:00 +0000

The Redbirds finish the season with a 15-17 record.

Illinois State women register key Missouri Valley win over Murray State

Fri, 08 Mar 2024 19:00:00 +0000

ISU is 20-9 on the season.

Illinois State women need to finish strong to stay in MVC's top four

Wed, 06 Mar 2024 21:00:00 +0000

The Redbirds were crushed by Murray State earlier this season.

Kendall Lewis hopes to carry Illinois State far into MVC Tournament

Wed, 06 Mar 2024 20:00:00 +0000

The Redbirds open play Thursday at 6 p.m. against Evansville.

Valparaiso trips Illinois State again; Redbirds No. 7 seed for MVC Tournament

Mon, 04 Mar 2024 17:45:00 +0000

ISU dipped under the .500 mark at 15-16.

Missouri State tops Illinois State women as Redbirds' third-place hopes dashed

Sun, 03 Mar 2024 14:30:00 +0000

ISU fails to tie Missouri State for third in the MVC.

Illinois State closes regular season at Valparaiso

Sat, 02 Mar 2024 20:00:00 +0000

The Redbirds have a record of 15-15.

Dowell, Wong perform in the clutch to send Illinois State past Southern Illinois in OT

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 18:00:00 +0000

ISU moved to a 19-8 record.

Kinziger's buzzer-beater carries Illinois State to dramatic victory

Thu, 29 Feb 2024 17:30:00 +0000

ISU is 15-15 overall and 9-10 in the MVC.

Illinois State women's basketball heads out on key road trip

Wed, 28 Feb 2024 20:00:00 +0000

The Redbirds have won four straight.

Illinois State basketball tries to stay in front of Missouri State

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 19:00:00 +0000

It's ISU last home game of the season.

Illinois State women catch fire in second half to shoot past Evansville

Mon, 26 Feb 2024 01:15:00 +0000

ISU led by just five at the half.

Points hard to come by as Bradley outlasts Illinois State

Sun, 25 Feb 2024 19:00:00 +0000

ISU scored a season low point total.

Illinois State women play host to Evansville

Sat, 24 Feb 2024 17:41:00 +0000

It is ISU's annual Play4Kay game to raise money for cancer awareness.

Surging Illinois State hits the road to tangle with arch rival Bradley

Fri, 23 Feb 2024 19:00:00 +0000

Bradley won the first meeting by 13 in Normal.

Illinois State women start fast, roll past Bradley

Fri, 23 Feb 2024 18:00:00 +0000

ISU is 10-5 in conference play.

Lewis, Foster muscle up to boost Illinois State past Northern Iowa

Thu, 22 Feb 2024 17:30:00 +0000

The Redbirds snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Panthers.

Illinois State women seek better starts entering MVC game at Bradley

Wed, 21 Feb 2024 20:00:00 +0000

ISU narrowly beat Bradley in late December.

Foster, Kinziger playing well as Illinois State welcomes Northern Iowa

Tue, 20 Feb 2024 20:45:00 +0000

Foster is averaging 15.1 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists over his past nine outings entering Wednesday's 7 p.m. game against Northern Iowa.

Malachi Poindexter shines with career-high 27 points as Illinois State outshoots Evansville

Mon, 19 Feb 2024 18:15:00 +0000

ISU moved to 7-9 in the Missouri Valley.

Illinois State women finish strong again to topple Valparaiso

Mon, 19 Feb 2024 18:00:00 +0000

ISU overcame a late 10-point deficit to trip Illinois-Chicago in its previous game.

Illinois State aims to carry momentum forward against Evansville

Sat, 17 Feb 2024 20:00:00 +0000

ISU and Evansville are both 6-9 in Missouri Valley play.

Wong, Dowell deliver in the clutch as Illinois State women rally for dramatic win

Fri, 16 Feb 2024 19:15:00 +0000

ISU scored 13 straight points down the stretch.

Illinois State baseball coach Steve Holm excited for return of strong position players

Thu, 15 Feb 2024 17:00:00 +0000

ISU was 20-30 overall and 9-18 in the Missouri Valley in 2023.

Happy to be home, Illinois State women take on Illinois-Chicago

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 19:00:00 +0000

Former Redbird standout Ashleen Bracey is the second-year head coach at UIC.