{"id":289266,"date":"2025-11-17T17:04:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T17:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/289266\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T17:04:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T17:04:10","slug":"bet-on-problems-to-arise-with-glorification-of-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/289266\/","title":{"rendered":"Bet on problems to arise with glorification of gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gambling culture in America has gone viral. Bets can be made by cellphone or the tap of a computer key. People can bet on the length of the national anthem or whether a coin toss comes up heads or tails. Professional sports organizations partner with betting companies and open sports books in their stadiums. TV commercials blare out the fun of gambling. The result: players accused of conspiring<\/a> to fix games, fans wondering if games are legit and gambling addiction.<\/p>\n

It is time to hit the brakes.<\/p>\n

Philip S. Witt, Northbrook<\/p>\n

Sticking together in turmoil <\/p>\n

The rapidly unfolding moral and legal crisis in the Chicago area demands us to ask: Will we stand together or stay silent? Will we see the violent invasion of our city as inching us closer to a modern-day civil war \u2014 or look the other way?<\/p>\n

Though a judge temporarily blocked the deployment <\/a>of the National Guard in Chicago and U.S. Border Patrol boss Greg Bovino is reportedly leaving<\/a> to terrorize Charlotte, North Carolina, federal immigration agents have been violently taking up President Donald Trump\u2019s call for the last few months.<\/p>\n

Nationwide, more than 170 U.S. citizens<\/a>, including elected officials, were detained by federal immigration officials across the country so far this year.<\/p>\n

At the heart of this escalation is Chicago: a city of strength, pride and resistance that I\u2019ve called home my entire life. As the granddaughter and daughter of immigrants, I was raised to see courage as a way of life.<\/p>\n

Today, I see courage in the neighbors forming corner watches<\/a>, shielding<\/a> families from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and raising funds<\/a> so detained street vendors can access legal help.<\/p>\n

In Little Village and North Center, federal raids sparked more panic after a high schooler<\/a> and day care teacher were detained<\/a> in broad daylight. It\u2019s not just immigrants who feel the tremors of impending doom. It\u2019s all of us: Black, Brown and working-class families whose safety has never been guaranteed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s our responsibility to use this moment to come together to ensure we have safe streets, safe schools and business investments in all our neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

That belief \u2014 that our fates are all connected \u2014 has motivated me to run for Congress, so I can represent the same streets I grew up on. In Illinois\u2019 7th Congressional District, Black and Brown communities have continually been pitted against each other for the resources we all deserve: safe streets, livable wages, well-funded schools affordable housing and universal health care.<\/p>\n

For generations, Black Chicagoans have carried the consequences of redlining, job discrimination and the legacies of Jim Crow and slavery. And as our present moment makes obvious, immigrant and working-class families are being denied the prosperity their own work builds. Winning reparations, a pathway to citizenship, universal health care and fair wages demands we fight together or swallow the hard truth that if we don\u2019t, we all continue to lose.<\/p>\n

Anabel Mendoza candidate, 7th Congressional District<\/p>\n

Lack of accountability <\/p>\n

If day care worker Diana Santillana Galeano\u2019s arrest was \u201cunlawful\u201d<\/a> as a U.S. District judge determined last week, then when can we expect those who broke the law in arresting her to be indicted?<\/p>\n

Don Anderson, Oak Park<\/p>\n

Cooperation could close mental health gaps<\/p>\n

A common adage in crisis planning is that a community should not wait until there is a fire before they decide whether to build a fire department.<\/p>\n

For many Chicagoans and others, the enactment of the \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill Act\u201d has lit a match and tossed it toward our resources for critical health care <\/a>in 2026. This matters not only for the countless among us who directly depend on the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid for fundamental behavioral health services, but it will indirectly affect all of us in deeply critical ways. The time for collaborative planning, innovation and leadership is now instead of waiting for when \u2014 not if \u2014 the crisis arrives.<\/p>\n

For thousands of Chicagoans, the ACA and Medicaid are the only ways to afford mental health treatment. Having insurance means you can access local services, which, in turn, promotes continuity of care and stability.<\/p>\n

No more. This new legislation imposes significant cuts to Medicaid, which will result in scores of Chicagoans losing such benefits. People will still get sick or live with untreated illnesses and the costs, and harm, borne by all of us, will only get worse.<\/p>\n

At NAMI Chicago<\/a> \u2014 the National Alliance on Mental Illness\u2019 local affiliate\u2014 people call our helpline every day. In many instances, people don\u2019t know where to go for help for themselves or a loved one who is experiencing symptoms of a mental health condition. <\/p>\n

Looking ahead, these cuts will eviscerate the already unreliable and uneven access to services for serious mental illnesses across the city. The calls to our helpline will undoubtedly increase as many won\u2019t know where to turn for care. Waitlists will grow. Emergency room visits will spike. The sick will get sicker.<\/p>\n

And all around us, we\u2019ll experience and witness more mental health crises and consequential encounters with law enforcement, jails and emergency rooms. In short, our already tattered mental health safety net will be shredded.<\/p>\n

These community problems, inflamed by these looming cuts, require a community response. Chicago can meet the moment. Now is the time to prepare and collaborate. Public-private partnerships across the city and county can innovate and rally around those among us who will need help.<\/p>\n

No single provider or health center can solve for what\u2019s ahead, but we are a city filled with compassionate advocates. We take care of one another when things get tough. That will be what\u2019s actually beautiful about this bill and the response we give it.<\/p>\n

Matt Davison, CEO, NAMI Chicago<\/p>\n

Bill of health<\/p>\n

If the Affordable Care Act is so affordable, as its name indicates, why do we need subsidies and tax credits to afford it?<\/p>\n

Mark Cunningham, Naperville<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gambling culture in America has gone viral. Bets can be made by cellphone or the tap of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289267,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,393,394],"class_list":{"0":"post-289266","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}