CHICAGO, IL - Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson booted members of the public from a city meeting on his proposed 2025 budget on Monday after residents vocally protested against extensive funding for migrants.
While Johnson's 2025 budget narrowly passed on Monday, it was only after the mayor ordered a temporary recess to allow police to clear residents from the hall to allow council members to vote.
It took six weeks of debate for Johnson to secure the 26 votes necessary to pass the budget plan, with the opposition succeeding in removing a proposed $300 million property tax.
The plan also adopts a $40 million short-term loan that allows the city to delay paying off its debt, a major point of criticism for many of the protesters.
"You caused all this money to go to illegal immigrants," one resident told Johnson during the public comment period. "Anything that you all pass is not genuine."
Another resident accused Johnson of failing to "protect the people of Chicago from invasion." Click here to read more.
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SEATTLE, WASH - Over a dozen school districts in Washington, one of the country’s most left-leaning states, are proposing banning males from playing in girls’ sports.
A group of 14 school districts has proposed an amendment to the handbook of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, which governs athletics at middle and high schools, that would ban trans-identifying boys from playing on girls’ sports teams.
The proposal comes after 17 years of trans-identifying public school students in Washington being able to play on the team of the opposite sex.
The group of school districts also have a second proposal that would establish a new “open division” that would allow trans-identifying students to play.
The amendments must pass with 60% approval at an April meeting of the Association in order to take effect. Click here to read more.
NEWARK, NJ - Belleville, New Jersey, Mayor Michael Melham connected a string of mysterious drone sightings to a report of a radioactive shipment that went missing earlier in December.
Melham said the drones have been hovering over critical infrastructure and residential areas in his state for at least four weeks, suggesting that their grid-like flying patterns indicate they are searching for something specific.
“We know very little,” Melham told the hosts of Good Day New York on Tuesday.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) confirmed in an event report Friday that a Ge-68 pin source shipped by New Jersey‘s Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) went missing from the Port of Newark on Dec. 2. Melham said the materials were lost in transit.
“It was a shipment. It arrived at its destination. The container was damaged, and it was empty,” he told the hosts. Click here to read more.
NEW YORK, NY - Federal agencies reported $161.5 billion in improper payments during fiscal year 2024, according to data released by the Office of Management and Budget in November.
President Joe Biden will leave office having lost $925.7 billion to improper payments — money sent to the wrong person, for the wrong amount or the wrong reason — during his four-year term. Adjusted for inflation, Biden’s term will have lost $986.2 billion.
That’s the worst for any president since reporting began in 2004, even adjusted for inflation.
Key facts: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wasted $87 billion in improper payments, more than any other government entity. Medicare reimbursements to health providers had a 7.7% mistake rate this year, the worst since percentages were first reported in 2019.
Another $4 billion was sent to recipients who had issues regarding their citizenship, including $824 million in unemployment insurance from the Department of Labor. Click here to read more.
LANSING, Mich - Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law a measure allowing Michigan transportation to install “an automated speed enforcement system” in work zones to penalize motorists who break the law.
House Bill 4132 would allow the Michigan Department of Transportation to create an “automated speed enforcement system unit.” The agency would be empowered to set the criteria for prioritizing a work zone, such as a freeway, for installing such a system.
Critics of the cameras say the cameras may provide a false sense of security for employees in work zones, and potential mission creep in the use of cameras for purposes other than monitoring drivers in traffic construction areas.
“Whether you’re driving on them or working on them, we’re focused on fixing the damn roads and making sure people are safe on the damn roads,” the governor said in a post to X.
Under the measure, transportation officials would need to place a sign one mile before the work zone starts, and an automated speed enforcement system would digitally display an approaching vehicle’s speed.
The House passed the bill initially last year, but it languished in the Senate until last month.
It would create a new fund in the state treasury, the Work Zone Safety Fund, and according to an analysis from the Senate Fiscal Agency, MDOT indicated “there would be a small cost associated with this program.” Click here to read more.
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