Justin Vicory

Communications Specialist, DPS. Past: Executive Writer @CityOfJxnMS. City of Jackson, breaking news reporter @clarionledger. Sun Herald. Enterprise Journal. Etc

[Justin Vicory @justinvicory]

The family of John Jackson reached out to me close to a year after he was discovered in a shallow grave in Lawrence County. They said they weren't getting any help from authorities. Turns out, they were correct. https://t.co/fN8800BWuq

[Polymarket @Polymarket]

JUST IN: Scotland fans reportedly hit 125 decibels during “Flower of Scotland” — the loudest noise ever recorded at a World Cup.

[Marco @marcorasi1960]

Night ride past a millinery shop, Royal Street, New Orleans

[Marco @marcorasi1960]

Double drink, Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop bar, Bourbon street, New Orleans

[Marco @marcorasi1960]

Twilight at English Turn, New Orleans

[G @stevensongs]

Elon Musk has enough money now to fix every McDonald's ice cream machine, but he won't because he only thinks of himself.

[Yogi @Houseofyogi]

Chicago lost the Bears this week. A team that's been in the city since 1921.

They didn't lose them to a bigger market or a better deal. The Bears decided they'd rather be a tenant in Indiana than deal with Illinois for one more year.

Think about how badly you have to run a place for that to be the smart move.

They lost them for two reasons.

The people running Illinois would rather villainize a builder than keep one. And they're bad at their jobs.

In 2021 the Bears spent $197M on the old Arlington Park racetrack.

Before they could break ground, Cook County valued the empty lot at $192M (Bears said $60M). They were salivating at the chance to extort a building that didn't even exist yet.

That fight dragged on for years.

The Bears were ready to put $2B into the stadium. All they wanted was a promise the county wouldn't reassess them into oblivion, plus $855M for infrastructure everyone uses. Roads, transit, utilities. A $3B project, two thirds of it private money pouring into Illinois.

Springfield had since 2021 to get this done. They dragged it to the final night of session, passed it through the Senate at 3:39AM, and the House went home without voting.

So now it's all gone.

The funniest part? This started because Cook County tried to grab the tax early. They knew a built stadium would pay $53M a year. Now they get under $4M on a vacant lot. No jobs, no buildout, no new anything.

Congrats on fighting for scraps and losing the whole prize.

Pritzker: they're "an $8.5B valued business" that doesn't need propping up.

But be smart for a second. Almost every NFL city throws in public money for a stadium. Not charity. The return is real. Tourism, hotels, restaurants, jobs, game days, property tax on a huge development. The math works.

Indiana did the math. While Illinois sat on it for years, Indiana passed a bill in months, put up $1B, and took the team.

And the Bears took a worse deal to get there. In Illinois they were going to own their stadium. In Indiana they rent it from the state. A team that wanted to build its own home gave up ownership just to escape Chicago.

Nobody won but Indiana. The Bears lost their stadium. Illinois lost the team, the $2B, and $53M a year in taxes.

Pritzker after they left: "I wasn't willing to give up billions of dollars of taxpayer money to give it to a billionaire-owned family or team."

There it is. "Billionaire-owned."

That's how Democrats talk about any business right before they run it out of town. Call them a billionaire, act like you're saving working families, take a victory lap while the tax base drives across the state line.

Meanwhile they're running the whole state into the ground. And you already know how this ends. You're living in it.

Pensions are $143B in the hole, worst in the country and not close. You pay $6,285 a year in property taxes, double the $2,969 national average, for a city that's $1.15B in the red. The mayor called its finances "the point of no return."

When you run things this badly, you sell what's left.

They leased the parking meters for 75 years to Morgan Stanley and a sovereign wealth fund in Abu Dhabi. Took $1.15B and burned through it in two years. The investors already made it all back, with 58 years left to collect.

Sold the Skyway. Sold the downtown garages. Every asset that made money, gone for one check.

But a fixed property tax rate for a team that's been here 106 years? That's "propping up billionaires."

Companies are leaving. Boeing for Virginia. Caterpillar for Texas. Citadel for Miami. In 2023 alone Illinois lost 56,000 people and $6B in income to other states. The ones who left earned a third more than the ones who moved in.

Indiana didn't outbid anyone. AAA credit, 16 years straight. A $676M surplus. Fourth-lowest debt per person in the country. They just weren't a disaster.

Illinois could have collected $53M a year. It chose zero. Ignore all the bad management but make sure to stick it to those evil, pesky billionaires.

[Jarvis @jarvis_best]

I was dicing tomatoes this morning when my four year old daughter Moana ran into the kitchen with tears in her eyes

“Daddy,” she cried, “did you hear Scott Pelley’s contract with CBS News was terminated?”

I nodded.

“And now his loyal audience won’t be able to see him present the world’s most compelling stories in the nation’s top rated weekly news magazine, will they?”

I reluctantly nodded again.

“Even grandma?”

With that, I lost it. We threw our arms around each other and sobbed.

[Barstool Sports @barstoolsports]

Somewhere in Europe they’re teaching soccer players to flop by watching Thunder highlights

[Sam Ro 📈 @SamRo]

He warned us

[Polymarket Hoops @PolymarketHoops]

Shai-Gilgeous Alexander has fallen on 17.4% of his shot attempts these playoffs:

That’s higher than:

James Harden — 11.9%
Jalen Brunson — 9.0%
Donovan Mitchell — 8.4%
Victor Wembanyama — 4.2%

SGA has also fallen on 51.4% of his fouled shot attempts 🤯
(via @YahooSports)

[Pew Research Center @pewresearch]

38% of Americans live within 5 miles of at least one operational #data center.

[Pew Research Center @pewresearch]

Are Americans pessimistic or optimistic about the country’s future?

[Eylon Levy @EylonALevy]

Yes, we trained dogs to vote for us

[Historic Vids @historyinmemes]

Stanley Kubrick explains the ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey in a rare phone call.

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

This reporter getting interrupted by his mother is still one of th best videos of all internet.

[Bob Golen @BobGolen]

I bet barn owls were ecstatic to see humans come by and put up barns.

[OldTimeHardball @OleTimeHardball]

This was the proper way to start a day

[Miss Ally @MissAlly_01]

My 4-year-old son said, "Mummy, why do people make up things that their children have said for social media? Isn't it just inherently dishonest & indicative of inability to construct a compelling narrative themselves?"