Author | Lightnews

Reposted

Star:Line Chicago @starlinechicago.bsky.social · 2d

"What's the Tollway going to do with an extra ten billion dollars over the next decade?"

I have a suggestion...

#BuildTheTunnel

(605 ILCS 10/32.1) Sec. 32.1. Power to construct railroad tracks. Upon written approval by the Governor, the [Illinois State Toll Highway] Authority may exercise any powers that exist under this Act on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly to design and construct new railroad tracks. The Authority may charge an access fee to any passenger or freight rail operator who wishes to use tracks which the Authority has constructed using the powers granted by this Section. Moneys in the Road Fund may not be used to implement this Section. Authorization must be granted to the Authority for each individual and distinct railroad track project.
(Source: P.A. 97-977, eff. 8-17-12.)

2034sight and CRCL Plan cost estimates. For the CRCL Plan:

* Phase I: A-2/Fulton Market Superstation - $1.5B, per previous Metra estimates
* Phase II-A: RI-CUS Connector - $1.2B
* Phase II-B: SCAL Ramp Flyover - $0.65B
* Phase III: Clinton-Roosevelt Connector Line - $4.5B
* Fleet and infill stations - ~$2B

Total: $9.9B

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williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 16h

I hope it’s more than just more consistent and reliable L and bus service, expansion of bus priority systems, and expansion of all day/all week Metra schedules, but I also hope it’s at least that

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williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 1d

Fuck yeah. Next step- strong arming SSL into reopening a stop where it joins the mainline in Pullman.

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williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 2d

anyone have a sense of how much more likely ramping up NCS metra service to O’Hare is under NITA?

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williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 2d

McHenry County has (at least had in 2023) the best public bike share system in NEIL outside of Divvy. If the rep is saying what I hope he's saying, a regional public transit bicycle rental program ala OV-fiets is nigh

williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 2d

You know better than I do, but probably not so inevitable under an intact IRA (that is, a timeline where our fellow Americans weren’t quite so naive, ignorant, and hateful that they decided to give power to a party of sadists simping for billionaires)

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williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 3d

Also metra has been actively fixing underpasses on the main line over the past several years- credit to them for not prioritizing 60th st just because OPC. (Though yeah would be nice for OPC to step up and do it with their own resources)

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williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 3d

they will! by 2030 🤣 www.hpherald.com/evening_dige...

59th Street Metra station rehabilitation to finish in 2030

The Chicago Plan Commission last week approved plans to rehabilitate and modernize the 59th Street Metra station, setting a summer 2026 construction start date for the long-stalled project.

www.hpherald.com

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williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 4d

No one seems to be running against Curtis Tarver, by the way. A shame if true- I hope I’m wrong.

But I genuinely don’t know if taxes on delivery or streaming will piss people off more. Should be a bit of both, perhaps.

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williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 4d

Wait which one will piss people off more? My rep seemed to think the delivery tax was a nonstarter with constituents, but he also lives right by the metra tracks and seems to see Metra as a nuisance on the street (homeless people and trash near the stations, I guess?), not a means of transportation

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williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 4d

stress level down 50 points
after the helicopters leave. this happens way too often!

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Reposted

Stephanie Kollmann @slkollmann.bsky.social · 8d

I haven't seen people here mention this letter from the mayor of Illinois' 2nd-largest city (Aurora, 40+% Latino)

to the Aurora Police

following egregious attacks by immigration in Aurora and related protests

So here it is!

Hello Chief and APD Leadership,

I just wanted to jot a quick thank you note for those who participated in this meeting with the Latino community about ICE in our neighborhoods.

Sadly, this problem is not going away anytime soon. Historically, the police have been on the wrong side of history during the civil rights movement and the labor movement - defending capital. The pivotal points in American history are when police realized that their solidarity should be with labor; not capital.

Labor vs. police: Learning from working-class history Workers World

In this current struggle, I believe that we are 2-3 years away from a moment where we see the shift in solidarity.

I would like to see Aurora lead, and show something different. It will create discomfort during the transformation. I noticed during the march towards Blue Kangaroo, when the police escort disappeared, that activists I didn't know used their vehicles to block the intersections and protect the marchers.

All living things have the capacity to evolve and grow. Government is about to go through a huge evolutionary period and shed that which is not necessary, and re-focus on what is important.

As government continues to disintegrate from the top down, we have an opportunity to re-invent the ways we find food, water, shelter and protection.

We would like the Aurora Police Department to play a historic role in defending the United States of America, and our city against fascism. We have a unique opportunity to do something different, leave our mark in the history books, and make a difference. I'm excited about the opportunity and look forward to discussing it further.

Respectfully, John Laesch Mayor, City of Aurora laesch@aurora.il.us

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Reposted

TheBossRoss @thebossross.bsky.social · 8d

Chicago's mayor Brandon Johnson is a one-man bulwark against racism. A real Mensch.

#humanity

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Reposted

Gabe Ortíz @tusk81.bsky.social · 8d

“For more than an hour, residents screamed, videotaped and tailed federal vehicles, raucously honking horns to send the message: Their operation is not welcome here.”

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 8d

look i'm going to be real with you, i do not think deploying into chicago suburbs is going to end up working out well for the admin in the court of public opinion

www.cnn.com/2025/10/24/u...

When masked agents descended on a Chicago suburb, residents sprang into action, hollering and documenting their operation | CNN

Residents near Chicago are joining a coalition of resistance and opposition to ICE raids and the President Trump’s unwavering determination to detain and deport undocumented migrants en masse.

www.cnn.com

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williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 8d

As the days pass, we’re experiencing more and more direct material harm from the illegal federal occupation of Chicagoland. Gathering and preserving multiple independent archives of evidence is important. So will be carrying on these memories and telling these stories for generations to come.

armando l sanchez @mandophotos.bsky.social · 8d

Border patrol agents deployed tear gas on the 3700 block of North Kildare where residents say a landscape worker, a resident, and a woman on a bike were detained. Video from a resident.

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Reposted

ghoul-chujung 👻 @gochujung.bsky.social · 8d

That brings the running tally up to:
- 2nd CS gas / chemical weapons attack *this morning*
- 4th consecutive day of ICE / CBP tear gassing a Chicago neighborhood
- 7th neighborhood attack since a federal judge issued a ban on them doing so
- 9th neighborhood attack since the start of October

unraveled @unraveledpress.com · 8d

It's not even 11am yet, and federal agents have gassed the northwest side of Chicago twice this morning.

Just before 10, NWSRR reports they detained two people in Irving Park, one of them known to be a US citizen: www.instagram.com/p/DQPKhmDEd4W/

Smoke (cm) section part of triple Cs canister

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williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 9d

arguably the angriest declarer in this 140 year history of people declaring baseball dead described playing the game this way - “unlimber the old soupbone come every April and toss the ol’ hosshide to and fro in a lively contest of one old cat.”

Paul Fairie @paulisci.bsky.social · 10d

1941

Baseball Is Dead ! ! ? ! ! ?

So Baseball is dead in Pottstown!

It's deader than the well-known door knob. It's flatter than a Texas prairie, and there's so little chance of reviving it that the Pottstown School board has decided to abolish the National pastime in the Senior High school.

Yep, our High school boys are so interested in crocheting, home economics and marceling that they haven't time to unlimber the old soupbone come every April and toss the ol' hosshide to and fro in a lively contest of one old cat.

--The Mercury, 30 Jul 1941

williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 10d

I never voted for her but am very much admiring and appreciating this move, anyway

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williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 10d

Remember when Lori won by like 50 points when she was elected mayor and was the darling of international press for a moment? She’s back baby! And I appreciate her for it!

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williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 22d

peoples not people’s (autocorrect)

williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 22d

Nice intention here but gotta say I don’t love this as the first paragraph! Chicago is a traditional homeland of various native people’s. Tens of thousands of native people call Chicago home today. Most of all this weekend but always, let’s avoid framing native people’s as people of the past!

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williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 23d

For what it's worth (the door you show should always be open when trains are running)- you can ~always enter a bit south of there, either via the CVS or the building entrance just to the north of the CVS (I think even on Sundays? but could be wrong)

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williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 23d

While we’re asking questions- I’m wondering to what extent it, when, etc the project will cause closures of the south water entrance while construction is underway.

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williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 25d

This will end sooner or later. It will be sooner if we can come together unequivocally and forcefully against this ongoing attack on our freedom. Get it together Anthony Beale, et. al

williamreed.bsky.social @williamreed.bsky.social · 25d

Yet we still have alderpeople who can’t bring themselves to sign on to the defense of a colleague detained unlawfully by federal agents. thetriibe.com/2025/10/so-a...

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