commissioner jessica vásquez said the cook county board had yet to see a contract for briefcam, sheriff tom dart's proposed jail ai surveillance camera system. dart said breifcam will "save lives" and downplayed its facial recognition features while hyping up its object recognition features (?).

shawn@mulchy.bsky.social · 3mo ago

new: sheriff tom dart is quietly pitching the cook county board on two new surveillance systems that could be approved as soon as thursday. dart wants $2 million for a software that uses ai to monitor the jail’s cameras for drug use and nearly $1 million for more flock license plate readers.

all my podcast ads are like “would you like to place an online bet that this protein soda can be your therapist”

actually i plan to age disgracefullly

“I was confused the whole time because I’m not dangerous if I plead guilty, but I’m dangerous because I maintain my innocence.”

Chip Mitchell@chipmitchell1.bsky.social · 5d ago

After decades behind bars, Ivy Kelly was given a choice: Walk free, or keep fighting to clear his name. I met him inside Cook County Jail to hear about his decision. @wbez.org @chicago.suntimes.com #murder #prisons #innocence #twill #Chicago #Illinois www.wbez.org/criminal-jus...

People are taking their small children to Lolla I can’t imagine a worse time no offense

“Her story is one in a string of alleged violent incidents between ICE agents and women throughout the United States. Over the last 18 months, online videos have shown women being tackled to the ground, pulled from a car, dragged out of a workplace and fatally shot.”

Candice Norwood@candicenorwood.bsky.social · 6d ago

Norma Bowe, a nurse in New Jersey, runs a mobile health clinic that stops outside Delaney Hall detention center, where she provides blood pressure checks, stroke assessments and other care. Yesterday, she told me about the day she says she was assaulted by an ICE agent. My latest via @19thnews.org

‘“I thought about Alex Pretti because he was a nurse. He was helping someone up off the ground that had been shoved,” Bowe said.’

Candice Norwood@candicenorwood.bsky.social · 6d ago

Norma Bowe, a nurse in New Jersey, runs a mobile health clinic that stops outside Delaney Hall detention center, where she provides blood pressure checks, stroke assessments and other care. Yesterday, she told me about the day she says she was assaulted by an ICE agent. My latest via @19thnews.org

This is beautiful American folk art

Robert Loerzel@robertloerzel.bsky.social · 6d ago

Pictures of beavers inside the Crafty Beaver hardware store on Lawrence Avenue

go girl give us nothing!

Luke Knox@lukeknox.me · 7d ago

just became aware of William Howard Taft’s 1908 campaign poster

My toddler whenever I leave his line of sight

Current* conditions near Gary, IN:

‘Anthropic described the project as “our effort to disruptively scan all the world’s books” in an internal memo, which noted “we do not want it to be known that we are pursuing this project”.’

Eli Valley@elivalley.bsky.social · last wk.

Dystopia www.news.com.au/technology/o...

The @chicagoreader.com is and has been consistently excellent. I really hope that they get the resources they need to continue for 50 more years. Why are rich progressives not funding local independent media? This piece is excellent and would only be written by a local outlet.

The Cook County jail’s new $7 million visitation center

Cook County wants to create an oasis inside the infamous jail. But the renovation will do little to address the harm of incarceration itself

chicagoreader.com

My heart rn if u even care

UFO Sighting Bot@ufoskies.bsky.social · last wk.

Pulsing between transparent and dark metallic

I hate this stuff so much. Warmed-over justifications for making jails a housing/ medical/ service provider for a city.

shawn@mulchy.bsky.social · last wk.

tfw the new jail has biophilic shapes and urban overlap

new: officials are building a $7 million “trauma-informed” visitation center at the cook county jail, part of at least $400 million in projects planned at the jail over the next decade. it’s supposed to make for a more “humane” experience—but it’ll do little to address the dismal conditions at ccj.

The Cook County jail’s new $7 million visitation center

Cook County wants to create an oasis inside the infamous jail. But the renovation will do little to address the harm of incarceration itself

chicagoreader.com

That’s right!

Casey Toner@ctoner.bsky.social · last wk.

chicagoreader.com/music/concer... 🔥🔥🔥 from @imleor.bsky.social about Lollapalooza, the corporate monolith masquerading as a civic good

Jack Gilbert’s “Failing and Flying” could bring the big sweeping summer melodrama back from the dead. Plus! an ancient Greek myth as metaphor is right there in the text: “Everyone forgets that Icarus also flew.”

Jesse Hawken@jessehawken.bsky.social · last wk.

Studio execs are going to want to adapt more poems for the big screen now

Is it a good time to remind everyone about this? 👀

Starbucks Workers United@sbworkersunited.org · 2w ago

🚨Have you felt sick after handling Starbucks’ silica-based blending powder? If you're a barista, reach out to us. If you're a Starbucks customer, we urge you to STOP BUYING STARBUCKS until the company finalizes union contracts with the protections and improvements we need.

The Illinois Department of Corrections did not answer questions about the fires, citing pending litigation.

The Joliet Treatment Center failed to address the fires, according to government records. Cellblocks lacked sprinklers. Alarms were turned off. The local fire chief said they tried to alert the prison to delays at the gate for years before Stephens’ death

Two weeks later, at age 38, Jason Stephens died. Still, the fires continued.

There were more delays when an ambulance tried to exit the prison. Guards refused to open the gate for 28 minutes, as fire department employees called dispatch again and again, saying they were stuck. According to a guard, a firefighter said, “This man can die while y’all pussyfooting around.”

Stephens was left in his smoke-filled cell for a half hour. Guards sprayed a fire extinguisher and pepper spray into his cell, but did not let him out. When firefighters arrived at the prison, one said employees did not immediately tell them a man was still locked inside a smoke-filled cell.

Stephens had sickle cell anemia, a disease that can cause intense pain. For months he told the prison he needed a blood transfusion and said he’d do anything to get help, including harming himself. He’d swallowed glass repeatedly. And eventually, in July 2024, set a fire in his cell.

Jason Stephens died from a prison fire he set in prison two-years ago, today. It was one of 70 fires in the Joliet Treatment Center over 3 years, including 12 cases of self-immolation. Here is his story... THREAD www.themarshallproject.org/2026/07/24/p...

A Prison on Fire

Designed to help people with serious mental illness, Joliet Treatment Center repeatedly failed to prevent or respond to fires, despite two deaths.

themarshallproject.org

A letter from the mother of Alex Pretti, six months after he was murdered by ICE.

my youtube suggesteds are either ms rachel or interior motives

One thing I love about myself is that I have no clue who Will Stancil is and I never will 🥰💕