Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: Reporting live from southern Illinois, it’s me again
Next Post: It’s all in a school day
Posted in:
Posted by Barton Lorimor
* An attorney for Burr Oak Cemetery’s owners brushed off this week’s report that there are more incidents of plots being used more than once than originally reported by Sheriff Dart’s office in July 2009…
Perpetua attorney Brian Shaw said his company hasn’t wanted to sell the cemetery since January, determining that it wouldn’t be possible to sell any more graves in the crime scene area along 123rd Street. And since a condition of selling the cemetery to Cemecare LLC hinged on adding graves in that space, Perpetua instead suggested creating a Burr Oak Cemetery Trust to care for the historic black cemetery.
“We really don’t know what his motivations are,” Shaw said of Sheriff Tom Dart. “This cemetery still fulfills the need for the black community.”
The cemetery isn’t on the block, but an offer has been made. Perpetua says it’s going to reorganize the cemetery’s administration. The Southtown Star’s editorial board came out in favor of the idea today…
Perpetua’s new reorganization plan calls for the cemetery to be put into an operating trust, supervised by a trustee. The cemetery would continue to take care of owners of burial plots, as well as family members who would like to be buried near their loved ones at Burr Oak. Once the plan is approved by a judge, which could happen next week, $7.65 million in insurance money would be set aside to maintain Burr Oak and to pay out claims to families who have sued Perpetua.
But under the plan, no new burials would take place in that section of the cemetery where additional remains were found.
That’s the right move.
* Perhaps you guys knew this, but this just caught my eye today in coverage of Sen. Kirk’s tour of the Thomson Corrections Center…
“I am for a federal prison in Thomson, Illinois,” Kirk later told a crowd at a town hall meeting in Freeport. “Because we think that the president will give us that assurance soon, we are confident that the sale will go through.”
According to The (Freeport) Journal-Standard, Kirk said that if the government purchased Thomson, it would be the largest federal prison in the nation and would employ over 1,000 people, having a local economic impact of $150 million a year.
Republicans were very against this idea when it first came out, but it was introduced before last year’s primary. Though Kirk has been consistent in his opposition to the Gitmo detainee transfers, some of his colleagues criticized the idea of selling a state owned prison to the feds when overcrowding is a problem for IDOC.
* And if Greg Hinz is right, there’s another issue thought to be gone coming back…
But, after a year and a half of disappointment, Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts says he’s going to to keep pitching his proposal to rebuild that aging jewel known as Wrigley Field with a combination of private and public funds. […]
Instead, his chosen tactic is more, mostly quiet talks with public officials — particularly, I suspect, with Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel, who unlike Richard M. Daley seems open to some public help for the team.
Sources confirm that the new mayor and the team owner had a 10-minute sitdown a few weeks ago in which Mr. Ricketts made a presentation and Mr. Emanuel listened.
No deal was reached or commitment made. All Mr. Ricketts will say — after considerable pushing on my part — is, “He understands.”
A mayoral move would indeed be decisive, given that the team already has major league support from Illinois Senate President John Cullerton and others in Springfield. But that’s still a big if.
It might be a harder sell given the Cubs’ value has risen by 6 percent since the Rocketts bought the team.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 10:34 am
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
Previous Post: Reporting live from southern Illinois, it’s me again
Next Post: It’s all in a school day
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
I don’t think many peole care about the prison issue. Nice caveat by Kirk
Comment by Wumpus Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 10:40 am
Re: Cubs
Certainly, Illinois has sufficient funds to provide Ricketts with capital improvement money. I look forward to Cullerton’s and Quinn’s press conference on the issue.
Re: Thomson
Both the criticisms still stand, although GITMO detainees are prohibited from being transferred to the US by an act of Congress. If IDOC needs additional space and the budget exists to operate it, the prison should be used. Otherwise it should be sold to the highest bidder.
Comment by Cincinnatus Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 10:45 am
I’m with you, these are 2 issues I am tired with. As for ricketts, a good story by hinz. It seems like he’ll have an easier time getting a steve bartman appreciation day than getting what he wants with this.
Comment by shore Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 11:00 am
If Rickett’s thinks that Wrigley Field needs major improvements, he should have paid less to buy the team and stadium. Now he has his hand out for a taxpayer bailout. Typical attitude of entitlement by today’s rich people.
Comment by Tom Joad Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 11:03 am
it should be a hard sell given the amount of money the rickets poured into elections to elimante the useof tax payer money to provide assitance to those in need.
he supports money for building aball park for himself (when he has the cash to do it all himself) but not to help people in need?
Comment by Ghost Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 11:04 am
Mr. Ricketts is fully aware of that. Which is why he still seems to emphasize the ticket tax idea that he floated last year, arguing that it would preserve and expand the “economic magnet” that Wrigley is for Chicago.
Mr. Ricketts says he’s prepared for a long war of schmoozing, stroking and negotiating with both neighborhood and public officials.
I wonder how much it will help having a Mayor that is a Cub fan?
This neighborhood heavily relies on Wrigleyfield/Cubs and it would not be what it is without it. All of the businesses etc. should try to help the best they can because they are the ones that will loose the most if the Cubs are relocated. I don’t feel the rest of the City should be responsible for Wrigley Field.
Comment by 3rd Generation Chicago Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 11:20 am
If Ricketts only got 10 minutes with Rahm that would seem to identify Rahm’s interest - a man who wants to make his own mark, not repair someone else’s.
Comment by Redbright Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 11:23 am
According to an article on the Huffington Post, a study by archeologists has shown that there are human remains and associated materials (coffin bits, etc.) all over Burr Oak. There probably isn’t any location in the cemetery where people can be buried without digging someone else up.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/21/burr-oak-cemetery-scandal_1_n_838327.html
Comment by Aldyth Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 11:27 am
- Tom Joad - Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 11:03 am:
“Typical attitude of entitlement by today’s rich people.”
Or another way to think of it is that people with access to money (either through personal fortunes, corporate coffers or union dues) understand how to play to the corruption and greed of politicians.
You prefer to view it through a class warfare lens, I look at it from the vantage point of corruption.
Comment by Cincinnatus Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 11:27 am
- You prefer to view it through a class warfare lens, I look at it from the vantage point of corruption. -
I don’t necessarily think you’re wrong about how the wealthy operate, but it’s a little hard to stomach papa Ricketts railing so vehemently against government handouts just before stepping in line for his own.
Comment by Small Town Liberal Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 11:41 am
–If Rickett’s thinks that Wrigley Field needs major improvements, he should have paid less to buy the team and stadium.–
He actually did. That’s why Zell was so hot to work with Blago and Big Jim to spin off Wrigley Field from the team to the stadium authority — to maximize the value of the team by removing the liability of Wrigley.
After their 97 win season, the Cubs overspent like crazy on Soriano, Fukudome, Milton Bradley, and a new contract for Zambrano to try and buy the World Series, thinking a winner would garner the public support to grease the skids in Springfield.
Instead, the team tanked, Blago got impeached, and the Ricketts bought the team for about $300 million less than the Tribbies thought they would get.
It took a generation for the Bears to get renovations to Soldier Field and many years plus a phony threat to move for the Sox to get theirs. Ricketts is going to have to wait awhile, I think.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 11:43 am
The idea that Ricketts will move the Cubs is absurd since a portion of their popularity is based on the location. The condition of the park was well-publicized so they were not ignorant of the fact that they were puchasing an old park. They can pretend they are going to move but it is an obvious ruse.
I think it is crazy that Rahm would consider giving the Ricketts money to rehab…the cupboard is bare, Goldilocks.
Comment by Belle Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 11:50 am
–Or another way to think of it is that people with access to money (either through personal fortunes, corporate coffers or union dues) understand how to play to the corruption and greed of politicians–
Where’s that in play here? I guess there was never any corruption or greed in the Daley Administration, because Ricketts couldn’t get the time of day with him.
There have been dozens of pro baseball and football stadiums built in the last 30 years and the hammer over politicians has always been the threat of moving. Ricketts doesn’t have that, everyone knows it and he admits it.
Daley didn’t take the Bears seriously until Cleveland abandoned their rabid fans that sold out an 80,000-seat stadium for years and moved to a new stadium in Baltimore. That got his attention, especially after the Rams left LA for St. Louis and bigfoots out there like Ueberroth, Ovitz and Eisner started talking about financing a stadium to attract a team.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 12:17 pm
“Government spending is out of control,”
So begins the website, endingspendingfund.com, a TEA Party-esque web site wholly funded by the Ricketts family.
It should be noted further, that the Ricketts family were major supporters of TEA Party candidates like Sharon Angle.
So, I say to you, Mr. Ricketts, let the free market fix your stadium, you hypocrite.
Comment by Bill F. Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 12:56 pm
== It took a generation for the Bears to get renovations to Soldier Field and many years plus a phony threat to move for the Sox to get theirs. Ricketts is going to have to wait awhile, I think. ==
Very good point. It will likely be a long process for the Cubs, and all the people getting upset about the Cubs asking for money for renovations after the Sox and the Bears got mega assistance for their stadium projects are just being hypocritical.
Comment by TJ Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 4:50 pm
TJ, as Bill pointed out, the Ricketts didn’t do themselves any favors with their big-time support of the Tea Partiers.
Screaming your head off about taxes and government spending, than asking for a handout, is not unusual, but it is thoroughly distasteful.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Mar 24, 11 @ 5:01 pm