Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2005

Tuesday, Feb 15, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

ABC-7’s “I-Team” ran a story last night on a strange food service contract at the tollway.

The I-Team uncovered a food contract between the Illinois Tollway and a company that has ties to a mega millionaire. Eddie Debartolo Jr. is also a convicted felon. Debartolo was once caught bribing Louisiana’s governor with a briefcase full of cash.

A company launched by Debartolo is opening pizzerias inside every renovated tollway oasis in Illinois. Tollway officials defend the deal.

Eddie Debartolo Jr. is one of the country’s 300 richest men. The Notre Dame graduate’s net worth is estimated at more than $900-million, made mostly through primarily from real estate and shopping centers.

Debartolo was the owner of the NFL’s San Francisco 49er’s. He was forced to permanently leave the business after pleading guilty in a gambling scandal involving a corrupt southern governor. Now Debartolo’s pizza place is open for business at the O’Hare Oasis in Schiller Park.

Famous Famiglia has a firm ten-year state contract to sell pizza pies at the refurbished Illinois Tollway Oases. Two are open now. Two more will open this week with the last three after that. The contract for the oasis pizza parlors is with a company called: FD Leasing, of White Plains, NY. The “F” is for Famiglia. The “D” is for Debartolo. […]

Despite Debartolo’s record — and a prohibition against state contracts for felons — the company got the deal. Illinois State Toll Highway Authority officials said the pizza contract is not with Debartolo. They said the contract is with FD Leasing and Debartolo’s name is nowhere on the contract.

Tollway officials said their legal staff reviewed the deal and concluded that it didn’t fall within the felon prohibition because FD was not involved in the corruption problem. […]

So why was New York selected and not a Chicago pizza maker? The company’s president laughed and said, “I think the guy was drunk when he gave it to us.”

He admits though, sales are not great so far although they are looking to bid for O’Hare and Midway airports concessions when those contracts come up.

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Yucky stuff in Cal City

Tuesday, Feb 15, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Somebody in Calumet City is truly deranged.

Calumet City officials reported finding two dead cats under their re-election campaign signs over the weekend.

Authorities said the animals were believed to have been strangled.

City Hall Spokesman Jason McCabe suggested Monday that the dead cats were placed under the signs by people who do not support Mayor Michelle Markiewicz Qualkinbush’s slate, which includes the entire sitting City Council. […]

The report represents the latest in a string of incidents officials are referring to as “political vandalism” believed to be fueled by the upcoming primary, including racial slurs spray-painted on a billboard above a black dummy hanged in effigy and a host of spray-painted campaign signs.

Anybody know what the heck is going on there?

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“Reasonable belief”

Tuesday, Feb 15, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Rep. Monique Davis has a new bill.

“Reasonable belief” that drugs are in someone’s car would be needed, not “ear-piercing or dreadlocks,” for police in Illinois to use drug-sniffing dogs under a bill filed Monday by Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago).

The measure is a response to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision based on an Illinois case. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan argued in favor of the dogs’ use before the high court, which agreed with her in overruling an Illinois Supreme Court decision.

“In my opinion, this will lead to a police state,” Davis said, subjecting “innocent motorists, college students and especially people of color to the harassing, frightening and embarrassing experience of a dog search.”

I’d be interested to know how you feel about this subject. Read the whole story for more first, of course.

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Under the bus he goes

Tuesday, Feb 15, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

When you make a habit of throwing your friends under the nearest bus, sometimes you discover that they’ve returned the favor.

Lawmakers called for investigations Monday into links between new tollway oasis food vendors and two of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s closest advisers, but an aide to the governor said he had no plans to ask his inspector general to look into the matter. […]

Despite Blagojevich’s contention that there was nothing to investigate, State Sen. Susan Garrett, a Lake Forest Democrat, said the governor should ask his inspector general to look into the matter, “just to clear the air.” Democratic Sen. Jeff Schoenberg of Evanston, who like Garrett is an advocate for tollway reform, said the revelations taint progress the governor has made at improving the tollway. […]

Both Garrett and Schoenberg called for legislation that would require more disclosure of the financial holdings of people who either act as informal advisers to the governor as well as for tenants in state buildings like oases. Schoenberg said he would push for provisions that would require quicker and more complete filings of the informal advisers.

8 Comments

Guv passes a bill…. in Vermont

Tuesday, Feb 15, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Less than two weeks ago, you may recall, Governor Rod Blagojevich sent letters to the Vermont House and the governor urging them to pass and sign an I-Save Rx bill that he had promoted and had been approved by a Senate committee.

Well, yesterday, the Vermont legislature passed the bill.

The state Legislature has passed a bill authorizing the state to take part in a program that allows residents to buy prescription drugs from Canada. Gov. Jim Douglas plans to sign the measure, which would make Vermont the fourth state to join the program, I-Save Rx, first put in place by Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois last fall. Vermont sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in August for rejecting a plan with a Canadian pharmacy in which Vermonters could receive mail-order prescriptions.

Bet he couldn’t repeat that rapid success in Illinois right now.

1 Comment

Noise Mountain

Tuesday, Feb 15, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

This has become a standard part of Steve Rauschenberger’s stump speech lately, but I’m not sure that he wants people doing their own translating.

Rauschenberger (who said his name means “smoke in the mountains” in German…

Actually, “rauchen,” not “rauschen,” is the German word for smoking. Rauchenberg (the “er” may give it plurality, but we’ll leave the minor details of translations to another day and eliminate it here) would translate to: “Smoking Mountain.”

According to several online translators, “Rauschenberg” translates into English as: “Noise Mountain.”

Not so good.

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