Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2007

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

Once again, more kudos to Alexi Giannoulias for ordering the audit that uncovered this craziness…

A Collinsville hotel built with millions in state loans apparently became a cash cow for the property’s owners and managers who all the while claimed they could never turn a profit, according to a new report in the foreclosure lawsuit.

Officials for years have wondered why the developers couldn’t make the Holiday Inn successful, and the unpaid loans have been a thorn for every state treasurer since they were issued in 1982. The state took control of the property in January, and new Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias ordered a review of the books.

After an accounting of the hotel’s records and interviews with employees, the report by the hotel’s new court-appointed management company cites instances of inflated salaries, ghost payrolling and what appears to be outright theft. Several relatives of one of the owners were paid tens of thousands but did no work, and the general manager received a $31,000 profitability bonus when the owners claimed poverty, according to the report, which was expected to be filed in Madison County court this week. […]

The balance owed for the Collinsville property has ballooned to more than $29 million. State officials see the latest allegations as confirmation of their suspicions that the owners never tried to pay anything back.

Go read the whole thing. It’s just despicable.

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Props for my nephew

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram just did a big spread on my nephew Nicholas. The kid is a star on the field and off (the last time I checked he had a perfect grade average).

Until the bottom of the seventh inning, Nick Miller and the Keller Indians were finished.

Keller trailed Colleyville Heritage 7-0 through 4 1/2 innings Wednesday, but scored twice in the bottom of the fifth. By the bottom of the seventh, the Indians trailed 9-2.

“We hadn’t been doing anything all night, but once we got in that inning, we started clicking,” Miller said. What followed: The Indians sent 12 batters to the plate, and scored eight runs for a 10-9 victory. The rally was capped by Miller’s two-out single up the middle on a 1-2 fastball. Keller (23-7) clinched a playoff spot with the victory, and opens against Coppell (24-7) in the Class 5A Region I bi-district round Thursday.

There’s even a Q&A.

Are you breaking out any new, crazy traditions for the playoffs?

Right now, we have this new tradition where we wear camouflage to every game. Coach wanted us to take that hunting mentality. At the first of the season, we felt like we were the hunted; now we want to be the hunters. Now we’ve been wearing camo every day. I’ve got a camo hat that says “Born to Hunt” that I’ve worn to the games…. And I’ve actually worn it under my helmet when I got the game-winning hit. Some of the guys will wear it under their jerseys. It’s fun, it’s all good fun.

Very cool.

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Long nightmare almost over

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

I’ve picked a new web host for the site. The change-over should happen within the next two days. It’s a premium service so hopefully the site issues will be completely resolved and everything will load much, much faster.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Question of the day

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

First, the setup…

Doctors in Illinois may no longer have to get written consent from patients to give them HIV tests under a controversial state bill that’s part of a national effort to make HIV testing more routine.

Supporters of the bill, which could come to a vote in the Illinois House this week, say it would give crucial knowledge to the estimated 10,000 Illinois residents who are infected with the virus that causes AIDS but don’t know it. The initiative would enact new testing guidelines that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published last year in hopes of screening all patients between ages 13 and 64.

But the change in law also would require rescinding parts of Illinois’ 20-year-old AIDS Confidentiality Act, which ensures that patients cannot get tested for HIV without their knowledge. […]

All opponents of the proposed law said they share the center’s goal of expanding testing and helping more people find out if they are HIV-positive. But they want to make sure counseling is offered before and after the tests to help patients deal with the results and get appropriate care.

“Written consent is a way of proving you’ve had that discussion,” Fisher said.

Now, the question: Should doctors be allowed to test patients for HIV without their consent?

28 Comments

Rate the ad

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

Let’s play another round of “Rate this TV ad.” The ad is sponsored by the Illinois Farm Bureau and just started running in southern Illinois…

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Salvi won’t run against Bean, “Little Lip” targeted by protesters

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

Eric Krol says that Kathy Salvi won’t run against Democratic Congresswoman Melissa Bean next year…

I’ve seriously considered it and a lot of people asked me to run,” said Salvi, a Wauconda trial lawyer who finished second in last year’s GOP primary. “Overall, I decided it’s not the right time for me to run.”

Salvi joins David McSweeney on the list of those on the Republican side who won’t take the plunge next year in IL-8. McSweeney, a Barrington Hills investment banker, lost to Bean last November. He’s back at Bank of America these days.

Salvi said there are some “unknown variables” next year. Although she didn’t cite this one specifically, one of those unknowns for all Republicans in Illinois is whether Democratic Sen. Barack Obama will be on the national ticket in 2008, either as the top dog or second banana. If Obama is on the ticket, Illinois would reasonably be expected to be bluer than it normally is on a statewide level as those who don’t normally vote feel some state pride and punch his number. That would make an already uphill race (shorter timetable with the primary moved up, two-term incumbent with wads of campaign cash) an even steeper climb.

Meanwhile, “a couple of hundred” people demonstrated outside of Dan Lipinski’s office over the weekend, claiming that he isn’t responsive to their needs.

Lipinski’s congressional district is home to Latino, Polish, Irish, Muslims and Arabs. They say the congressman refuses to hear them.

Also candidates are starting to line up to run for Luis Gutierrez’s seat. Guiterrez has announce he will retire after next year’s elections.

Last week, Cook County Commissioner Roberto Maldonado (D - 8th) announced that he had created a campaign committee to raise funds for an ‘08 congressional bid. City Alderman Ricardo Munoz (22nd) has also formally announced his intentions to run, forming a congressional campaign committee and, back in March, raising the funds to run.

This is a 2008 congressional open thread.

18 Comments

Enough with the blatant promos, please

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

The most interesting thing here is that not a single person in the Illinois House - and, yes, the governor still has several allies there - was willing to stand up for Rod Blagojevich on this vote…

After Gov. Blagojevich approved the construction of 32 special tollway signs bearing his name, taxpayers footed a $480,000 bill.

Now some lawmakers are trying to close a loophole in state ethics laws that enabled Blagojevich to bill taxpayers for the $15,000-apiece signs that read “Open Road Tolling, Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor.”

“[Blagojevich] was the major poster boy on using this loophole,” Rep. Elizabeth Coulson (R-Glenview) said.

“Taxpayer dollars should be going to market a program, not the elected official.”

The bill passed unanimously.

The Sun-Times editorializes on this topic today…

Unanimously approved in the House last Friday, it likely will have a tougher time in the Senate, where we can only hope President Emil Jones doesn’t use his power to block it. Even if this practice were ethical, spending all that money to promote the governor would fly in the face of much higher budgetary priorities during these hard times.

A similar bill introduced by a Republican state Senator has been bottled up in the Senate Rules Committee all year, leading some to believe that Jones won’t move Coulson’s legislation either.

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Morning Shorts

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson

* Editorial: Don’t bow to the lure of cable competition

* Lawmakers bone up on tax issues ahead of GRT debate

* Gov’s tax proposal gets praise, opposition

* Doug Kane: 12 reasons why the GRT won’t drive business out of Illinois

* Ameren says everything is on the table in talks except for a freeze or rollbacks

* Former CUB head staying in shadows on electric rate debate

* Martin Cohen’s work on electric rates

* State hopes to foil online predators

* Gov pitches proposal to beef up campus security in wake of VT Tragedy; more here

* Tax deal saves 1800 jobs at Cardinal Health

* Tribune Editorial: Bring on cable competition

* Editorial: Making public records more easily accessible

* Editorial: Bill ending ‘pay to play’ needs to pass

The bill is far from perfect. Contractors probably would find ways around it, such as routing money through political action committees or straw donors. But enacting this legislation is a step in the right direction.

* IIS clips: Internet safety & energy efficiency

* Education policy is topic of ‘Excellence’ forum

* Sweeney: Rockford needs to hire statehouse lobbyist

* Sneed: Beavers vs. Peraica

* Daley wants cop oversight committee out of department

* Cook Co. employees don’t need receipt to get repaid?

* Rosemont dynasty rises with next ‘Stephens’

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