Illinois
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Illinois Asian American Caucus on supporting Harris
CHICAGO (CBS)—Asian American representation in politics is on the rise across the nation, credited in part to the Illinois Asian American Caucus.
The caucus hosted an event on Wednesday to celebrate how much growth Asian American communities have seen in Illinois politics.
Vice President Harris is the first Asian American woman to become a presidential nominee, and now the caucus says it’s prepared to put every effort behind Harris for a win.
Just a few blocks away from where the DNC is happening, McCormick Place and the United Center is the only Chinatown in the country that’s still growing, and across Illinois, Asian American political representation is growing right along with it.
“We have grown the Asian American caucus from 0 to 17 members in just eight years, and a state that is only 7% Asian American, we’re so proud,” Cook Country Commissioner Josia Morita said.
Morita is a founding member and chair of the Illinois Asian American Caucus.
“There’s a saying that you’re either at the table or on the menu, and we’re so excited that our community, for the first time in this last decade, has really come to the table,” she said.
Over 200 DNC-goers and community members came to the table for dim sum and to learn how the caucus has managed to grow — hearing from a panel of Illinois politicians headlined by U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth.
“This community is vibrant and critically important to Chicago’s economic well-being and cultural well-being, and so, I’m really proud of the work that we’ve been able to do here,” Duckworth said.
“We are in so many races around the country, the margin of victory, and so many of the battleground states, and so, we’re going to get out there and work hard to have some more victories this November.”
The Asian American Caucus plans to mobilize its efforts in this year’s presidential election, not only in Illinois but across the Midwest, into neighboring states as well.
“We’re going to go up into Wisconsin. We’re going to go over to Ohio, we’re going to get races across the finish line in all of these states, especially in the Midwest,” Duckworth said.
For many members of the caucus, pushing Harris to the White House isn’t just political. It’s personal.
“So often, Asian Americans are seen as others that we don’t truly belong here. I still get asked where I’m from, and I’m a daughter of the American Revolution, you know,” Duckworth said.
“For me as a mom, my kids are Asian American and Black, and so I’m so excited to bring my four-year-old Blasian daughter on the floor to watch this historic moment here in our hometown on Thursday night, you know, to show that there’s a place for them and that they don’t have to choose,” Morita said.
Alabama was unsuccessful in last Friday’s fierce test against a Big Ten program, falling at Purdue to slide out of the top five in the polls.
The No. 8 Crimson Tide will see another ranked Big Ten squad on Wednesday when they battle No. 25 Illinois in the C.M. Newton Classic at Birmingham, Ala.
Alabama (3-1) was outclassed 87-78 in the showdown against the Boilermakers. But coach Nate Oats indicated there is a method behind the madness of playing a road game against a team that lost in last season’s NCAA title game.
“We schedule these games for a reason,” Oats told reporters. “We like to go against the best teams in the country and figure out what we have to work on, and we have plenty to work on because (the Boilermakers) are good. Braden Smith is one of the best guards in the country and he does not turn the ball over. As a team, they only had three turnovers.”
The Crimson Tide struggled defensively but received a solid offensive performance from freshman guard Labaron Philon, who scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Philon is averaging 12 points through four games.
“Labaron has been really good. Probably better than what we thought he was going to be,” Oats said. “I thought he had a pretty good game. But we got to keep developing our bench. We got to keep developing the young guys and they got to help us win a lot of games this year.”
Mark Sears had 15 points and six assists but made just 5 of 15 shots against Purdue. The first-team All-American is averaging a team-best 17.3 points but his high outing is just 20.
Last season, Sears scored 20 or more points on 26 occasions while setting a school record with 797 points.
Illinois (3-0) won its first two games by 45 and 32 points, respectively, before posting a 66-54 home win over Oakland on Wednesday.
Fighting Illini coach Brad Underwood said the Golden Grizzlies affected the speed of the game by their cautious approach and a zone defense that forced patience and perimeter shots.
The Illini didn’t respond well, committing 18 turnovers and making just 7 of 25 3-point attempts.
“The biggest, most important, takeaway for me is it’s not always fun and easy and free flowing,” Underwood said. “There’s going to be some grind-it-out games. I thought we handled that pretty well for the most part, but we’ve still got some things to work on.”
Tomislav Ivisic recorded 20 points, six rebounds and four steals to continue his strong start. He has a team-best five steals and also leads in rebounding at 9.0 per game in addition to being the squad’s second-leading scorer at 17.3.
The 7-foot-1 Croatian made 9 of 14 field-goal attempts while finding open creases in the Oakland defense.
“We were preparing for their zone the whole week,” Ivisic said. “The coach was asking for me to be in the middle spot. That I would have a lot of space there to help my teammates, assist them, or have open shots.”
Will Riley, who is averaging 17.7 points and 6.0 rebounds off the bench, had just eight points on 2-of-8 shooting against Oakland.
Alabama has won three of the four meetings between the schools. In the most recent contest, Alabama rolled to a 79-58 home win in the first round of the NIT.
–Field Level Media
Alexandra Szustakiewicz, 64, of Darien, Illinois, was charged with two counts of hate crime and one count of disorderly conduct, officials said.
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An Illinois woman was charged with hate crimes after she attacked a man for wearing a sweatshirt with the word “Palestine” written on it at a suburban Chicago Panera Bread, prosecutors and officials said.
Alexandra Szustakiewicz, 64, of Darien, Illinois, was charged with two counts of hate crime and one count of disorderly conduct, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin and Downers Grove Chief of Police Michael DeVries announced in a statement Monday. The charges stem from an incident Saturday at a Panera Bread in Downers Grove, a village about 23 miles southwest of downtown Chicago.
Downers Grove police said Szustakiewicz was at Panera Bread shortly before noon, local time, on Saturday when she “confronted and yelled expletives at a man” who was wearing a sweatshirt with the word “Palestine” written on it. Szustakiewicz then allegedly attempted to hit a cell phone out of the hands of a woman who was with the man when the woman began recording the encounter.
According to the statement, officers responded to a report of a disturbance at the Panera Bread, and Szustakiewicz was taken into custody the following day without incident. A complaint filed against Szustakiewicz alleged that she “committed a hate crime by reason of perceived national origin” of the two victims.
During her first court appearance Monday morning, a judge granted prosecutors’ request that Szustakiewicz have no contact with the victims and that she may not enter the Panera Bread where the incident occurred, the statement said. Szustakiewicz is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 16 for arraignment.
“Every member of society, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or any other individual characteristic, deserves to be treated with respect and civility,” Berlin said in a statement. “This type of behavior and the accompanying prejudice have no place in a civilized society and my office stands ready to file the appropriate charges in such cases.”
Civil rights organization: Victim shielded his wife from punches
The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, condemned the incident on Monday. The organization called Szustakiewicz’s behavior “shameful and abusive.”
CAIR-Chicago said Szustakiewicz had verbally and physically attacked a couple, identified as Waseem and his pregnant wife, for wearing a Palestine hoodie. The organization added that Waseem “shielded his wife from several punching attempts” during the encounter.
The incident was captured on video, according to CAIR-Chicago, and shared on social media — including on X, where it garnered about 1.2 million views by Monday night.
In the video, a woman lunged at a person who recorded the incident with a cell phone. A man then attempted to stop the woman, pushing her back with his arm, asking: “What are you doing?”
The video then showed the woman trying to hit the man, with a beverage she held spilling onto the ground. The woman continued attempting to swipe at the victims while threatening to call the police.
Later, the man is heard telling the woman to stop. Footage then showed the woman approaching the cash register, asking an employee to call the police.
Moments later, the woman is captured on video trying to hit the person recording the incident, with the man stepping in between them. The man is heard telling the woman: “Get away from my wife.”
The man and the person recording the video are then seen walking away from the woman, while she appears to follow them. The video then shows the man pushing the woman back, prompting both to threaten to punch each other.
“I’m a born and raised American who took his wife out for lunch. I was not able to do that simply because I was Palestinian,” Waseem told CAIR-Chicago.
Latest incident amid surge in Islamophobia, hate crimes
CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab said Saturday’s incident along with other recent hate incidents across the U.S. “reflect a broader pattern of hostility and intolerance towards Palestinian Americans and the Muslim community at large.”
Between January and June 2024, CAIR documented nearly 5,000 incoming bias complaints nationwide — a 69% increase of recorded complaints from the same period in 2023. The organization also released a report earlier this year, which found that CAIR received the “highest number of complaints it has ever received in its 30-year history” last year.
The report documented more than 8,000 complaints regarding anti-Muslim hate and nearly half of those complaints were reported in the final three months of 2023. The report noted that the wave of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim incidents is primarily due to the escalation of violence in Gaza following Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Numerous incidents have sparked fear among Muslim-American and Arab-American communities. About a week after the Oct. 7 attack, an Illinois man was charged with a hate crime after he fatally stabbed a 6-year-old and seriously injured the child’s mother in what authorities said was a violent response to the Israel-Hamas war.
In April, prosecutors said a New Jersey man was convicted of hate crimes after he attacked a Muslim man near a New York City food cart. A Texas woman was charged in June after authorities said she tried to drown a Muslim child at an apartment complex pool.
Last month, a New York City woman was indicted for an anti-Muslim attack after she pepper sprayed an Uber driver earlier this year, according to prosecutors.
A number of schools from Chicago and the suburbs were recognized as among the top elementary schools in Illinois, according to a new list.
The “2025 Best Elementary and Middle Schools” list from U.S. News and World Report examined more than 79,000 public schools in all 50 states, a press release revealed. Editors used publicly available data from the U.S. Department of Education to analyze mathematics and reading performance at the state and district levels — while accounting for student background and achievement in core subjects.
For a school corporation to receive a district-level ranking, at least two of the top performing schools must rank in the top 75% of the overall elementary or middle school rankings, according to the website. In all, 47,573 elementary schools and 23,861 middle schools were assessed.
In Illinois, a total of 3,421 schools were ranked. Seven of the top 25 schools in the state were Chicago Public Schools, including the top school, Edison Elementary Regional Gifted Center.
Almost all of the top 25 schools were in either the city or suburbs — except for No. 10 – Thurgood Marshall Elementary School in Rockford and No. 22 – Congerville Elementary School in downstate Woodford County.
Following behind Edison Elementary Regional Gifted Center was Hinsdale’s Oak Elementary School and Naperville’s Meadows Glen Elementary School at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Lenart Elementary Regional Gifted Center, a Chicago Public School, and Brook Forest Elementary School rounded out the top five.
Here’s a look into the top 25 elementary schools in Illinois, according to the report.
- Edison Elementary Regional Gifted Center – Chicago
- Oak Elementary School – Hinsdale
- Meadows Glen Elementary School – Naperville
- Lenart Elementary Regional Gifted Center – Chicago
- Brook Forest Elementary School – Oak Brook
- Elm Elementary School – Burr Ridge
- Forest Hills Elementary School – Western Springs
- The Lane Elementary School – Hinsdale
- Eisenhower Academy – Joliet
- Thurgood Marshall Elementary School – Rockford
- Skinner North Elementary School – Chicago
- Greenbriar Elementary School – Northbrook
- Westmoor Elementary School – Northbrook
- Ellsworth Elementary School – Naperville
- Prospect Elementary School – Clarendon Hills
- Walker School – Clarendon Hills
- Lincoln Elementary School – River Forest
- Highlands Elementary School – Naperville
- Bronzeville Classical Elementary School – Chicago
- George B Carpenter Elementary School – Park Ridge
- Madison Elementary School – Hinsdale
- Congerville Elementary School – Congerville
- Decatur Classical Elementary School – Chicago
- Lincoln Elementary School – Chicago
- Hawthorne Elementary Scholastic Academy – Chicago
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