Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2005

Wednesday, Dec 21, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

A former state lawmaker convicted of election fraud is not going to prison.

CBS 2’s Joanie Lum reports on the sentence for Patricia Bailey and why the South Side politician is saying she did nothing wrong.

Patricia Bailey walks free on probation after being sentenced for perjury and forgery. She still believes she was a good representative for the state’s sixth district.

â€œAnybody who knows me knows I fought hard and worked hard. I been shot at in Englewood, vandalized and I still ran the course,” Bailey said.

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Question of the day

Wednesday, Dec 21, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

We looked back on 2005 yesterday. Today, let’s look forward.

Your 2006 predictions.

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Casino stuff

Wednesday, Dec 21, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

The Daily Herald has a good story today about what could happen now that the Gaming Board has pulled Emerald Casino’s license to operate a riverboat in Rosemont.

Q. Is this the end of a chance for a casino in Rosemont?

A. Technically, no. The legal battles continue, although Tuesdayâ€™s vote by the Illinois Gaming Board makes things harder for backers of a Rosemont casino. In theory, even if they lose all their appeals, Rosemont could still be a part of a future proposal, but Attorney General Lisa Madigan has said unanswered questions remain about Rosemont, Mayor Donald Stephens and ties to organized crime, which he and the suburb deny. Itâ€™s unlikely sheâ€™d ever sign off on a casino in Rosemont. […]

Q. What will happen next?

A. Tuesdayâ€™s decision doesnâ€™t resolve a number of continuing legal battles, and attorneys for Emerald and Rosemont already are vowing to appeal at both the state and federal level. Rosemont attorney Bob Stevenson said he expects a federal appeals panel to grant a â€œstay,â€ or essentially freeze everything. Emerald attorney Robert Clifford predicts itâ€™ll could take two to five years for all the appeals. […]

Q. Is there a chance the last license will never be used?

A. Itâ€™s possible. Weâ€™re already at nearly eight years of things being tied up in the courts, and itâ€™s possible we could see another five on Emeraldâ€™s proposal for Rosemont alone. Who knows what the future will bring? However, thereâ€™s a lot of money at stake, and Illinois schools, which receive casino funds, have lost between $500 million and $1 billion, gambling board Chairman Aaron Jaffe estimated. Both the General Assembly and Gov. Rod Blagojevich have said they support casinos because they create such revenue.

Read the whole thing.

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The Eisendrath beat

Wednesday, Dec 21, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Two snippets from the Sun-Times today:

Congrats to veteran Chicago TV producer Monica Teague, who is leaving WBBM-Channel 2 and will sign on in January as press secretary for former North Side Ald. Edwin Eisendrath’s uphill battle to unseat Gov. Blagojevich’s re-election bid in the March Democratic primary.

And…

Let’s hope Dem gubernatorial hopeful Edwin Eisendrath’s good-luck Winston Churchill charm does its job.

*Translation: Sneed sources claim minions for Dem state party chief Michael Madigan were scouring Eisendrath’s nominating petitions filed with the state election board to see if they can find a legal reason to end his bid for the state’s top job.

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Still not good

Wednesday, Dec 21, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

I didn’t have room for this in today’s Capitol Fax, so here is SurveyUSA’s new monthly tracking poll on Governor Blagojevich.

Approve 41 percent, disapprove 53 percent. That’s better than last month, but his numbers have been trading within this range since May, when the montly tracker began.

Blagojevich is the 41st most popular governor in the country, tied with two others. The national weighted average for all governors was 48 approve, 46 disapprove, with the unweighted average being 54-40. The unweighted average for Democratic governors was 54 approve, 39 disapprove.

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