Decline and fall: ILL-inois state colleges may face accreditation issues

University of Illinois-Chicago
street banner

More decline and fall.

Perhaps the University of Wisconsin system can better manage Illinois' state colleges.

From the Southern Illinoisan:

The regional accrediting agency responsible for assuring the quality of colleges and universities, including Southern Illinois University, sent a letter this past week to the governor and legislative leaders warning them that there could be "accreditation consequences" if a budget deal is not reached in short order that provides adequate financial support for Illinois institutions.

The Higher Learning Commission is the regional accrediting agency responsible for ensuring universities and colleges are making the grade, so to speak, in 19 states, including Illinois.

Barbara Gellman-Danley, president of the Higher Learning Commission, noted in her most recent letter, dated June 22, that she had previously written to the governor and legislative leaders, in February of 2016, with many of the same concerns about how the budget impasse could affect the quality of state's higher education institutions. "…however, these concerns have grown exponentially since that time," she wrote.

"Sixteen months after my initial memo there remains no sustainable funding for higher education in Illinois. The continued lack of such funding places the higher education system of Illinois at considerable risk and is injurious to the very students the system purports to serve," the letter reads. "As the accrediting agency tasked with assuring quality, I must warn you about the accreditation consequences of the failure to provide sustainable funding for Illinois higher education."

Decline and fall: ILL-inois may delay big-money lottery payouts again

The rot is settling in.

From CNN Money:

State lottery officials announced Tuesday that if Illinois doesn't reach a deal to fund the government by the start of the fiscal year on July 1, it won't be able to make payments on time to those who win more than $25,000.

The delay in payouts would take effect on Saturday.

"The General Assembly needs to approve a truly balanced budget that includes Lottery funding in order to ensure all prize payments will occur," said Greg Smith, the acting director of the Illinois Lottery, in a statement.

It's happened before. In 2015, the Illinois Lottery didn't get the funding it needed until December -- meaning the holders of 3,900 winning tickets had to postpone collecting more than $112 million in spoils.

Then why buy lottery tickets?

Related post:

ILL-inois: Powerball pulls out of state, roadwork may end in two weeks

(PragerU Video) JFK: Democrat or Republican?

Who is this popular president? He was a lifetime NRA member who supported a strong defense policy. This president favored tax cuts too and was against racial quotas.

That president was Democrat John F. Kennedy.

Larry Elder explains.

As Ronald Reagan would love to say, "I didn't leave the Democratic Party, the party left me."

Junk City: Short-term loans costing Chicago Public Schools $70K a day in interest

Penn School, West Side

The bonds of Chicago Public Schools have been rated as junk for a couple of years now.

How much does junk status cost?

A lot.

The Chicago Tribune explains:

Two expensive loans that Chicago Public Schools secured over the last week will cost roughly $70,000 a day in interest for the cash-strapped district under the terms of the deals.

The district's borrowing agreements with JPMorgan require CPS to hold $387 million in loans until at least Sept. 29. That means CPS will likely pay a minimum of roughly $7 million in interest, according to a Tribune analysis based on current interest rate forecasts and the terms of both deals.

The two loans are to be repaid with pending Illinois education grants that are delayed as state government appears to be on the brink of entering its third consecutive fiscal year without a budget while accumulating billions of dollars' worth of past-due bills.

As of June 19, when the district completed the initial loan of $275 million, the state owed the district about $467 million in grants that weren't paid during the just-completed school year. On Monday, the district borrowed an additional $112 million through JPMorgan, also backed with education grants.

If Illinois doesn't approve a budget by the end of this week it will likely have its bond ratings downgraded to junk too.

Decline and fall.

The Five: Trump’s travel ban vindicated

President Trump's travel ban from six-failed states in Africa and the Middle East was partially upheld by the US Supreme Court yesterday. The court will decide the entire case in the fall.

It's a big victory for Trump. Fox News' The Five discusses.

CNN exposed again as fake news on Russia story

Project Veritas' James O'Keefe strikes again!

From Veritas' web site:

Project Veritas has released a video of CNN Producer John Bonifield who was caught on hidden-camera admitting that there is no proof to CNN's Russia narrative.

"I mean, it's mostly bullshit right now," Bonifield says. "Like, we don't have any giant proof."

He confirms that the driving factor at CNN is ratings:

"It's a business, people are like the media has an ethical phssssss... All the nice cutesy little ethics that used to get talked about in journalism school you're just like, that's adorable. That's adorable. This is a business."

According to the CNN Producer, business is booming. "Trump is good for business right now," he concluded.

Repeat after me: Russia didn't alter the 2016 election returns. President Trump didn't collude with Russia.

Over the weekend the First Name in Fake News was retracted a phony story on that so-called Trump-Russia collusion.

Tucker Carlson has more.

Chiraq: 4 dead and at least 42 wounded over weekend

McKinley Park

Pride Week ended in Chicago yesterday and as I wrote that same day at Da Tech Guy, because of its corruption and crime problems, the city really needs a Shame Parade.

Perhaps next year.

Pride or no pride, shame or no shame, the bloodshed in Chiraq continued. Four people were killed over the past weekend. Two on the South Side--in McKinley Park and South Shore. And two on the West Side--in Austin and West Garfield Park.

At least 42 others were wounded.

3 people ejected from Dyke March Chicago for holding Star of David pride flags

Sunday the 48th Pride Parade was held on Chicago's North Side. But for people looking for something more political, meaning more leftist, the action was in the Little Village Neighborhood on the Southwest Side, where Dyke March Chicago was held.

Three people were ejected from the parade by organizers because they were carrying a Jewish pride flag--which has the rainbow colors with a Star of David in the center.

From the Windy City Times:

According to one of those individuals—A Wider Bridge Midwest Manager Laurel Grauer—she and her friends were approached a number of times in the park because they were holding the flag.

"It was a flag from my congregation which celebrates my queer, Jewish identity which I have done for over a decade marching in the Dyke March with the same flag," she told Windy City Times.

She added that she lost count of the number of people who harassed her.

One Dyke March collective member, asked by Windy City Times for a response, said the women were told to leave because the flags "made people feel unsafe," that the march was "anti-Zionist" and "pro-Palestinian."

Does anyone seriously believe that a Dyke March is held in Gaza or the West Bank?

From DaTechGuy: Pride Parade? Chicago needs a Shame Parade

Yes, Chicago, the murder and corruption parade needs something else, as I write today at Da Tech Guy: Pride Parade? Chicago needs a Shame Parade.

Schiff criticizes Obama admin lack of response to Russia actions during 2016

Adam Schiff (D-CA), the hardened leftist who is the ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, criticized the Obama administration's silence last year on instance of Russian hacking attempts during the 2016 election season.

We only heard about "hacking" until after Donald J. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton.