Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2005

Monday, Jan 24, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Is this a flip or a flop?

Just a year ago, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (bluh-GOY’-uh-vitch) said he wanted to end exceptions to daily physical education classes in public schools.
Now his State Board of Education is suggesting ways to make it easier for schools to eliminate P-E. A report to the Legislature says state law could be changed to allow automatic exemptions in certain cases like for kids who play sports.

Spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch (ROWSH’) says Blagojevich is not reversing his position. She says Blagojevich believes schools should require physical activity but he is willing to help them eliminate bureaucracy to cut PE classes.

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Yeesh

Monday, Jan 24, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Disgusting.

A trial date of Feb. 28 has been set for James Camden, the 44-year-old Murphysboro man accused of attacking a referee during football game more than 17 months ago.

Camden is accused of attacking veteran Southern Illinois official Mike Byrne of Marion on Sept. 22, 2003, during a sophomore football game at West Frankfort. […]

The incident took place with approximately two minutes left in the first half and with West Frankfort ahead by three touchdowns. Byrne stopped the game and told fellow referee and crew chief Tony Gualdoni of Herrin that he was ejecting a Murphysboro fan (Camden) for unsportsman-like behavior that included a continuous barrage of harassment and vulgar language directed at the officiating crew and the players.

After notifying Gualdoni, Byrne then notified West Frankfort athletic director Richard Glodich that he wanted Camden removed from the field. According to the police report that was filed, as Glodich approached the Murphysboro bleachers Camden allegedly ran past a restraining wire leading to the field and grabbed Byrne around the neck with both hands.

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Gidwitz

Monday, Jan 24, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

In a decision that had been rumored for months, Chicago businessman Ronald Gidwitz is forming an exploratory committee, the first formal step toward a possible race for governor in 2006.

â€œOur children are not getting the education they need. Our jobs and doctors are leaving the state,â€ says Mr. Gidwitz in a statement posted on his new web site: ron2006.com. â€œI know we can do better. Thatâ€™s why Iâ€™m considering a run to represent youâ€”all of Illinoisâ€”as your Republican governor.â€

Discuss at will.

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Madigan expands police powers

Monday, Jan 24, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

I can imagine what more libertarian bloggers are gonna say about this, and I’ll probably agree with much of it.

The Supreme Court gave police broader search powers Monday during traffic stops, ruling in an Illinois case that drug-sniffing dogs can be used to check out motorists even if officers have no reason to suspect they might be carrying narcotics.

In a 6-2 decision, the court sided with Illinois police who stopped Roy Caballes in 1998 along Interstate 80 for driving 6 miles over the speed limit. Although Caballes lawfully produced his driver’s license, troopers brought over a drug dog after Caballes seemed nervous.

The dog sniffed out $250,000 worth of marijuana in Caballes’ trunk. The Las Vegas resident was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 12 years in prison, but his conviction was overturned when the Illinois Supreme Court ruled the troopers improperly broadened an ordinary traffic stop.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, despite having limited trial experience, personally argued the case before the Supreme Court.

I think one of the morals here is if you’ve got a quarter million dollars of weed in your trunk, drive the friggin’ speed limit.

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Jackson and Hizzoner

Monday, Jan 24, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Two columns on Congressman Jesse Jackson’s recent comments about Mayor Daley and the city council sheep.

One, by the Southtown’s Phil Kadner, has some realism buried deep down in the piece:

What Jackson doesn’t realize is that many of the voices urging him to run today will be cheering for Daley tomorrow.

These are the same folks in the news media who denounce Daley for using O’Hare Airport as a personal cash station but then urge the federal government to give him billions of dollars for O’Hare expansion.

Business leaders, who benefit from Chicago’s graft themselves, will put millions in Daley’s political warchest.

Reporters will be scouring the Jackson family history for dirt.

Run, Jesse, run, as fast as your legs can carry you back to Washington, D.C.

Run for mayor and there will be three other black candidates in the race before you can say, “What’s that other Jesse Jackson Jr. doing on the ticket again?”

That’s exactly right.

The other, by the Sun-Times’ Mark Brown, is more encouraging for the congressman:

Jackson volunteers that his remarks come at a time when Daley has been interfering with his top priority: the proposal to build a south suburban airport. In particular, he says Daley has applied behind the scenes pressure for him to abandon the two northwest suburban communities — Bensenville and Elk Grove Village — that so far have bankrolled the third-airport effort.

This is a tricky business for Jackson. If he’s serious about the problems in Daley’s set-aside program, he’ll need to follow through.

If it turns out he’s just using the controversy to get what he wants on the airport, he’ll eventually be sorry he spoke up.

I look forward to hearing him more.

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135th Engineering Company prepares to deploy

Monday, Jan 24, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Godspeed.

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Jacobs

Monday, Jan 24, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Still nothing official, and still no target date, but Sen. Denny Jacobs is inching closer to retirement.

After more than three decades in public service, State Sen. Denny Jacobs is seriously thinking about retirement.

Jacobs, a Democrat from East Moline, Ill., told the Clinton Herald in a telephone interview Friday he is about ready to end a 33-year career as an elected official. He has spent almost 20 years as a state senator in a district that includes the western part of Carroll and Whiteside counties.

“It’s time for new blood,” Jacobs said. “It’s a new system out there and it’s time for young minds to come to bear.” […]

“My son has been with me all along,” Jacobs said. “He knows how I think and he’ll be able to pick up some of the things that I’ve been carrying and carry on into the future. But that will be up to the committee chairmen. We have met with them and hopefully that’s who their decision will be.”

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Abortion stuff

Monday, Jan 24, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

This article lays out the abortion issue in Illinois pretty well.

The start of President Bush’s second term is encouraging for anti-abortion forces and dismaying to abortion rights advocates.

But both sides agree on one thing: It will be several years before any major push to outlaw abortion comes to Illinois — if it does at all.

“Four years is a realistic best case scenario for my group,” said Ralph Rivera, director of Illinois Citizens for Life, an anti-abortion group that was buoyed by Bush’s re-election and the addition of four more GOP members to the U.S. Senate in November. […]

Rivera said he’s approaching the looming battle methodically.

“It’s like watching a football game and the first guy who scores a touchdown goes nuts. You say, ‘What is he doing? The game’s not over,’” said Rivera. “This is just the first or second step. You don’t go nuts until the final step. And even then you’ve got to be vigilant.”

Similarly, abortion rights groups are taking a step-by-step approach to the situation.

Soon after the election, Planned Parenthood began pushing Illinois lawmakers to approve a measure that would ensure Illinois will continue to follow the tenets of Roe v. Wade in the event each state is given the opportunity to decide whether abortion is legal.

Observers say Planned Parenthood is unlikely to have much success in that campaign.

“In the status quo, it might be hard to pass such a bill,” said Steve Brown, a spokesman for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, a Catholic who considers himself an abortion foe.

Read the whole thing. It’s a good one.

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