The first week of veto session is almost never exciting. All the fun deals are concocted in the second week. While we await the intrigue, here are a few things to ponder.

Unlike several of his more conservative Senate Republicans, Sen. Dan Rutherford (R-Chenoa) worked hard for legislative candidates this fall. For example, Rutherford paid for a hard-hitting radio ad on behalf of Gary Dahl that allowed Dahl to go positive against Sen. Pat Welch (D-Peru). It’s no secret that Rutherford is planning to run statewide in two years, and he worked hard this fall to build up the necessary chits. From the Bloomington Pantagraph:

In yet another sign of his bid for statewide office in 2006, state Sen. Dan Rutherford could be heard offering his critique of Tuesday’s election on at least two radio stations Wednesday morning.

We’ve reported earlier that the Chenoa Republican is interested in running for secretary of state. Tuesday, he sounded like he was running for governor.

His non-stop, whirlwind schedule of GOP speaking engagements and visits to radio stations is starting to pay dividends as we head into the 2006 election season.

MaryAlice Erickson, vice chair of the Illinois Republican State Central Committee, was gushing about Rutherford when we caught up with her on Wednesday.

“He’s one of our up-and-coming stars,” said Erickson. “I don’t believe there is anybody who stands out as much as Dan Rutherford does. He gets support across the board.”

I think Rutherford is far too shrewd to run for either governor or secretary of state. He runs to win, and Jesse White will be a tough nut to crack. He’s not a lawyer so that rules out attorney general, and the governor’s race will probably be way too crowded. My bet is that he runs for treasurer if Judy Baar Topinka decides to move up the ladder.

Slain Statehouse security guard Bill Wozniak was honored yesterday. The AP fills us in.

Lawmakers joined the family of slain Capitol security guard William Wozniak to commemorate a maple tree and plaque in his honor Tuesday, then returned to work, where the House approved a $5.6 million security overhaul plan.

The tree stands just outside the Capitol entrance where Wozniak, 51, was shot to death by a gunman who had driven up to the building on Sept. 20, walked inside and fired at the unarmed guard, then walked away.

At the time of the shooting, the Capitol had no metal detectors and the security guards posted inside were unarmed.

“Sometimes we get busy in our jobs and we don’t extend ourselves to be gracious, and Bill always did that,” former Gov. Jim Edgar said at the commemoration Tuesday morning. As secretary of state, he had hired Wozniak in 1986. “Many a morning, he cheered me up when I knew I was going to have a tough day, just by the way he’d greet me.”

I never really knew Officer Wozniak, but I will never forget his smile. He seemed like a truly good guy.

The Tribune wants Mayor Daley to trim administrative overhead before raising taxes.

And in “real world” news, two marines from LaHarpe, Illinois, a tiny town in western Illinois, have now died in Iraq since the start of the war. The second fatality occurred yesterday.