Freebies such as Lollapalooza passes, gift cards to Chicago restaurants and retailers and a hip-hop version of the "Protect Chicago" music series and more were announced Friday.
May 5, 2021
For Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month this year, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights in the United States. Today s profile is Don Villar.
Don Villar was born into the labor movement and the spirit of social justice. His father was on strike at the time of his birth, fighting for better wages and benefits for bank workers in the Philippines. During his nearly 25-year broadcast journalism career at WLS-TV (ABC) Chicago, Villar won an Emmy for his breaking news coverage. Villar became a member of NABET-CWA Local 41 in 1991, was elected vice president in 2010 and then president in 2015. He became secretary-treasurer for the Chicago Federation of Labor in 2018 and continues to build solidarity across Chicago, Cook County and beyond.
“Chicago is the hub of the Midwest,” one signer, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce President Jack Lavin, told me in a phone interview. “If we get high-speed rail and more investment, it’s good for us.”
The letter specifically endorses a “vision statement” Amtrak released after Biden included $80 billion for the passenger carrier and other railroads in his $2 trillion infrastructure plan. Also signing the letter were the Environmental Law & Policy Center and the Illinois AFL-CIO.
Included on Amtrak s wish list are improvements on existing service from Chicago to St. Louis, faster speeds and decreased travel time between Chicago and the home of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, upgrades on lines to Milwaukee and Detroit, and new service to the Quad Cities and Rockford.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
McCormick Place will reawaken from its 14-month, pandemic-induced slumber with the July 15 return of the Chicago Auto Show and Mayor Lori Lightfoot said her goal is to get the city “fully open” by July 4.
“I am working night and day toward this goal. … I need you to continue to be on this journey with us. And that means getting vaccinated now as soon as possible,” Lightfoot told reporters Tuesday morning at McCormick Place, where details of the auto show return were announced.
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Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Almost a third of all Illinois residents are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19 but the number of people signing up for shots each day has dipped by almost a third over the past three weeks.
Residents were racing to snatch up the coveted shot appointments a month ago, and just as they’ve become readily available statewide, “there are just fewer people that are seeking it out,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Friday.
The latest challenge in the pandemic of falling vaccine demand is one the governor’s health team anticipated, and now must zero in on to bring the state closer to herd immunity.