Tiny plastic bags used to sell small quantities of heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana and other drugs would be banned in Chicago, under a crackdown advanced Tuesday by a City Council committee.
Ald. Robert Fioretti (2nd) persuaded the Health Committee to ban possession of “self-sealing plastic bags under two inches in either height or width,” after picking up 15 of the bags on a recent Sunday afternoon stroll through a West Side park.
Lt. Kevin Navarro, commanding officer of the Chicago Police Department’s Narcotics and Gang Unit, said the ordinance will be an “important tool” to go after grocery stores, health food stores and other businesses. The bags are used by the thousand to sell small quantities of drugs at $10 or $20 a bag.
Navarro referred to the plastic bags as “Marketing 101 for the drug dealers.” Many of them have symbols, allowing drug users to ask for “Superman” or “Blue Dolphin” instead of the drug itself, he said.
* The question: Good idea or not? Should the state follow suit? Explain.
* At first glance, when the Pew Center on the States gives Illinois a grade of “C” in its governance, one can’t help but ask: “Just a C?” But there may be some grade inflation afoot, since we’re tied for 48th overall with six other states…
“We respect the Pew Center’s commitment to this project, but unfortunately, the Pew Center chose to focus on politics instead of fiscal facts,” said Kelley Quinn, a spokeswoman for the governor’s budget office.
* It’s true, there is a lot of focus on politics in the analysis, but the grading itself is mostly based on performance. See for yourself here.
And there were a couple of bright spots in Pew’s analysis…
Fortunately for citizens, some positive change is occurring underneath the radar. In the past few years, the governor has required agencies to report more performance information. And some of the yardsticks now used, such as the percentage of ex-offenders who avoid going back to prison, are measuring solid outcomes.
* But politics and governance are completely intertwined, so Pew’s analysis is spot on…
But before those plans bear fruit — before any significant fiscal improvement can take place, for that matter — the administration and the legislature need to restore a working relationship. Many things hang in the balance, such as the $25 billion capital program for roads, bridges, schools, higher education and economic development.
* Meanwhile, Harold Hendersen links to this analysis of state-sponsored “economic stimulus” plans that involve tax cuts…
* Diminished state funding for services (or increased taxes). States, unlike the federal government, must balance their budgets. Therefore, for every dollar a state spends on new tax cuts, it must cut state spending (or raise other state taxes) by a dollar. That means less money for important services such as education, health care, transportation, and public safety — more specifically, less money for teacher and police salaries, road maintenance, and payments to doctors and hospitals.
* No net benefit to the economy. People who receive a state tax cut will have a bit more money to spend, but the teachers, construction workers, and health-care workers who lose their jobs or contracts with the state as a result of cutbacks in services will have much less to spend.
* Harold comments…
I find this mode of argument — that tax cuts can do good in some circumstances and not others — far more persuasive than arguments from those who assume that tax cuts, or tax increases, are always the answer.
[Note from Rich: Kevin is going to start doing one post a day, so help him out in comments with constructive critiques. Thanks.]
* Yesterday afternoon the Environmental Health Committee voted overwhelmingly to reject two proposals that would skirt the statewide smoking ban. The first proposal, offered by Rep. Shane Cultra, would have lifted the ban entirely. He argued that the ban is a “nightmare,” crippling businesses in his district and sending patrons across the border to Indiana. The committee voted down his legislation 11-3.
* The second proposal was more conciliatory towards the ban, and offered that businesses should be able to buy licenses to allow smoking. Rep. Ramey, the bill’s sponsor, explained that eligible businesses would include bars with food sales of 10 percent or less, casinos, racetracks, veterans’ organizations and other private clubs. Restaurants would be excluded.
Tom Swoik of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association testified as a proponent of the legislation. He argued that January and February revenues for the state’s nine operating casinos fell by more than 17 percent as a direct result of smokers spending less time at the slots and more time outside.
Some on the committee were sympathetic:
“Where does a smoker go in this state?” said Rep. Michael Tryon, a Republican from Crystal Lake. “You can’t have the government interfering in everybody’s life for everything that they do.”
But the measure failed 10-4.
* Smokers squeaked out one victory though:
The committee voted 12-2 for a measure allowing an Algonquin man to open a bar where patrons smoke flavored tobacco.
Aqeel Akhtar told lawmakers he put more than $50,000 into starting his lounge but found out in mid-January that the law only allows tobacco establishments that were open by Jan. 1.
The bill will allow shops if they were licensed by Jan. 1, even if they weren’t open yet.
* The venerated Cook Political Report changed its rating yesterday on the 14th Congressional District special election between Jim Oberweis and Bill Foster from “lean Republican” to “tossup.” Here’s part of the explanation…
Four days out, the special election to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation of former Speaker Dennis Hastert is too close to call… most agree Foster owns the late momentum.
The national GOP’s spending illustrates the party’s deep concern about where things stand in this pricey exurban Chicago district, which has a PVI score of R+5. As of the most recent FEC filings, the NRCC had spent over $1.1 million in independent expenditures – close to one fifth of its cash on hand - against Foster. By contrast, the DCCC had spent just over half that sum against Oberweis.
One Republican familiar with Illinois politics characterized the match up as a “race to the basement.” Indeed, whereas previous electoral experience is an asset for most candidates, Oberweis’s past unsuccessful bids are now coming back to haunt him. […]
Republican insiders also worry that Oberweis has not done enough to confront Foster directly on conservative base-motivating issues such as illegal immigration, and that an ad taking Foster’s debate comments out of context has backfired.
The Obama endorsement ad of Foster, the Tribune’s Foster endorsement, which included some harsh comments about Oberweis, and the Saturday voting are also cited as reasons for the switch. But they note the strong Republican tendencies of the district as Oberweis’ saving grace.
Northern Illinois University, boasting more than 25,000 students, falls within the 14th Congressional District and students registered to vote in DeKalb could have a say in deciding whether Democrat Bill Foster or Republican Jim Oberweis will fill Hastert’s seat through January 2009. But, NIU’s spring break begins Friday and many students will be out of town on vacation and won’t be around to cast their vote in the special Saturday election. […]
Students did have the opportunity to vote early through Monday, but early voting numbers are way down across DeKalb County compared to the Feb. 5 primaries, according to Sharon Holmes, the county clerk. They have received only about one third of the total early and absentee votes they got for the Feb. 5 elections. [emphasis added]
I don’t know how it is now, but back in the day NIU students tended to go home to Chicago or the suburbs on the weekends anyway. Thursday was the big bar night. But spring break means the place will completely empty out.
That might make a difference if this ends up being a close race.
Thoughts?
…Adding… If this alleged ugliness is true and it somehow finds its way into the mainstream before Saturday then things could take a quick turn for the worse. Oy.
* Tempers appear to be a bit on the high side in suburban Cook County…
After calling on Cook County Board President Todd Stroger to personally “explain himself” for pushing through a sales tax increase, some angry Palatine Village Council members said they had an even better idea — secede from the county.
Talk of tax revolt was in the air this week as officials, business owners and taxpayers throughout the region voiced outrage. But perhaps nowhere was the outrage more visible than in communities that share a border with lower-tax counties.
I had forgotten all about this…
Several northwest suburban leaders proposed creating a new entity — Lincoln County — in the 1970s, and Palatine Councilman Jack Wagner said it was time to explore that again. “This is getting out of hand,” Wagner said. “We can’t afford it.” […]
“It makes it very difficult for us to generate the revenue we have in the past,” said Schaumburg Village Manager Ken Fritz.Although more recent efforts toward secession have focused on southwest suburbs, for years the movement was pushed by Wendell Jones, former Palatine mayor and state senator. His successor in the statehouse, Republican Sen. Matt Murphy, recently proposed a bill that would make it easier for Illinois townships to vote to split off from counties. […]
The Lincoln County proposal is going to be sort of hard to do,” said McLeod, whose town competes with cheaper locales in Kane and Lake Counties. “Sure, they can make some hay with it, but the powers-that-be aren’t going to let this area go.”
* Even Public Radio is getting into the fiery populist act, running a story today on how just days after the County Board passed a huge tax hike, commissioners are looking to double the parking tax even though they get free parking for themselves….
So if you pay for monthly parking in a garage—the tax on your spot would go from right around 20 bucks to 40. If you park for a day and the county taxes you $1, you would pay 2. Pretty straightforward. […]
When commissioners and many of their staffers park downtown, they get to park in the garage under the Daley Center for free. There are even extra spots for Board President Todd Stroger and Finance Committee Chairman John Daley offices.
So if they approve the tax your parking would double—theirs would still be free. The proposal could be considered as soon as Thursday.
Larry Suffredin reminds us once again that there is no such thing as an effective and pure reformer in Chicago. And anyone who claims to be one is going to end up a liar. […]
After years of marketing himself as a reformer, he had to decide whether to stand tall on his soapbox as the county government shut down or flip-flop and make a deal that would increase Cook County’s sales tax.
He decided to flip, and the criticism was immediate and withering. Given his history of vowing resistance to tax hikes, it was also fair. […]
He also argues that some of his critics in the media didn’t want to see a budget passed. “They’re disappointed because I think they really did want to see the government shut down.”
It’s an old trick to blame the media for your political problems, and Suffredin can be criticized at least as much as he can be credited for the terms of the deal he cut.
From the tone of that piece, it looks like Suffredin was right about the media and the shutdown.
That’s the question that’s ricocheted around the state this week after state funds earmarked to restore Pilgrim Baptist Church went to the wrong place.
Another religious leader is also accusing the governor of breaking a promise.
Rabbi Philip Lefkowitz says, as a religious man, he’s not going to accuse Governor Blagojevich of lying to him but believes he did break a commitment made at a Seder. The rabbi claims the governor offered him $400,000 to build a long-dreamed-about, non-sectarian community center in Uptown. That was more than two years ago.
“We were counting on that. We were basing our fundraising dollars on it, and we could develop a mortgage and get the job going. We’re still waiting,” said Lefkowitz, of the Agudas Achim Congregation.
Um, no offense meant, but is Channel 7 just now figuring out that the governor’s word can’t be trusted - even when he makes a promise at a Seder? Where have they been?
* And there’s more weirdness afoot on that Pilgrim Baptist Church grant that went to the “wrong” place. A commenter here yesterday may have tipped off the Tribune…
In the midst of approving a $1 million state grant to officials for a school burned out of the Pilgrim Baptist Church, Gov. Rod Blagojevich granted a pardon and ordered that the criminal record of one of the school’s officers be expunged, according to state records examined by the Tribune.
The Trib reports that Rev. Jesse Jackson pushed for the gubernatorial pardon. Now, go all the way to the end of the story and here’s what you’ll find, after the Blagojevich administration claimed that the grant and the pardon were not connected…
In her petition for a pardon, however, Gill noted that she had applied for the $1 million grant but feared she wouldn’t be able to run the school with a felony record.
Pardons are a governor’s most awesome responsibility. In other words, he should’ve been paying attention to what he was doing there.
A private school that Gov. Blagojevich said errantly received $1 million from his administration allowed a former kindergarten teacher to be sexually harassed and unlawfully retaliated against her when she complained, a state panel ruled in 2006.
The judgment by the state Human Rights Commission against Loop Lab School and one of its former officials, Tyrone Johnson, came two months before Blagojevich’s administration awarded the $1 million grant to the school.
Oops.
* And it looks like there may have been some troubles at that school before the church burned down…
[Former Loop Lab School teacher Gregory Luckett] claims financial problems popped up at the school long before the flames and long before Governor Rod Blagojevich offered state money to rebuild.
“Before the fire we were not getting paid correctly, we were not getting paid on a regular basis, we were not getting paid our rate,” said Luckett.
Longtime Blagojevich critic Rep. Jack Franks has promised to hold hearings on this imbroglio, so it should be a lot of fun.
The program will offer 30-year fixed-rate mortgages guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration. The interest rate will not exceed 8 percent for loans capped at $417,000, with no prepayment penalties and no income requirement for borrowers.
The Daley administration has chosen a new manager for Midway Airport, signing a two-year, $21.2 million contract that will tide the city over until the airport is privatized.
Skyline Management Group has replaced a clout-heavy partnership that’s held the contract since 2001 and includes former Illinois Gaming Board Chairman Elzie Higginbottom, Mayor Daley’s chief fund-raiser in the black community.
Illinois’ Transportation Secretary says the need for improving roads and bridges is becoming clear to legislators, which may lead to quicker action on a capital budget.
Bill sponsor Rep. John Fritchey, D-Chicago, said the bill would make the moment of silence optional as it was before the law was passed last year. He added that students should be able to think about anything they wish rather than the “anticipated activities of the day” as the law mandates.
* I’ve been trying to avoid posting more than a handful Obama stories lately. You can find that stuff on other blogs. But, there’s a lot of interest in tonight’s primaries, so here’s a handy news feed to help you keep up with things…
* Check out Taegan Goddard’s wrap-up of late Texas polls. Clinton leads Obama in every one of them. Obama has been trying to downplay expectations for days, and that could be why. Meanwhile, Slate has a piece up about some super delegates who could be changing sides very soon. Slate also has this somewhat coincidental video.
*** 2:28 pm *** The essential repeal of last year’s law to require a moment of silence in schools passed the House today 72-31 with 6 abstentions.
The sponsor, Rep. John Fritchey, does not consider the bill to be a full repeal, but his legislation changes the statute back from schools “shall” have a moment of silence to “may” - where it was before the General Assembly changed it last year. That bill was vetoed by Gov. Blagojevich and then overridden in both changes. The title of the statute was also changed from the Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act to the Student Silent Reflection Act. A federal judge has been holding up last year’s law until its constitutionality can be determined.
Its fate in the Senate is uncertain.
* 2:38 pm - Mayor Daley dumped on the idea of relaxing landmark restrictions at Wrigley Field today, but didn’t flatly come out against it…
Without flatly ruling out easing landmark restrictions to make way for a Wrigley rehab, Daley said the park is “historical” and added that its special status came a few years ago because “people wanted it.”
“There were concessions on both sides, both the city…and the Chicago Tribune,” the mayor said. “All of a sudden they want to change that…Why do they want to change it? What happened?”
“You can’t tear every building down…Unfortunately, there have been a number of killings — both in and around high schools or elementary schools” as well as colleges, Daley said.
“It wasn’t the building that did it. It was the opportunity of someone getting a gun in Illinois….The access is so easy. That’s what we should be looking at. We should be in Springfield putting $40 million into education. That’s different. Not into tearing a building down because someone was killed in there. If that takes place, that would be a terrible precedent for us to have in Illinois.”
* And Dick Kay is going back to broadcasting. Well, part-time…
Retired WMAQ-Ch. 5 political reporter Dick Kay will begin hosting a weekly, two-hour radio talk show starting Saturday at 2 p.m. on WCPT AM 820.
Kay, 71, retired in 2006 and last year worked briefly as Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s “special advocate for health care.”
*** 3:03 pm *** Is NIU’s president backing away from the Cole Hall demolition idea? Here’s his latest letter to the campus…
We now face the question of what to do with this facility in the future. Our answer should represent a consensus opinion formulated by all members of our campus community. We must decide whether to remove the building or keep it; to reopen it in its present form or change its purpose or configuration. Any decision carries emotional and financial costs. I have expressed my own view that we should decommission Cole Hall as a classroom building. I made that judgment after talking with scores of students, parents, faculty and alumni who told me they could not fathom returning to Cole Hall to teach or study. In the days that have followed that tragic event, different voices and opinions have emerged, and we must take in all those viewpoints before moving forward. In the spirit of shared governance, I pledge to do all I can to facilitate the expression of all opinions.
* 3:05 pm - As I told you below, Dem congressional candidate Bill Foster was planning to unveil a new TV ad today featuring Sen. Barack Obama. The ad debuts just days before Saturday’s special election against Jim Oberweis. Here it is…
The University of Illinois flash economic index in February rose for the second straight month after six months of decline.
“It appears the recession hasn’t arrived in Illinois,” said economist J. Fred Giertz, who compiles the index for the UI’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs. […]
“We’re still moving along at a modest pace, but that doesn’t mean a recession in the state might not be around the corner,” Giertz said.
* 4:14 pm - Steve Stone is one of the smartest broadcasters in baseball, and he’s now with the White Sox…
A former American Major League Baseball player and current sportscaster, Steve Stone, signed Monday night a deal with the White Sox. He is now the team’s full-time radio color analyst for the 2008 season.
* Art Golab had a fascinating story in yesterday’s Sun-Times…
There’s a town, out west, where you’ll find the Mercedes-Benz nameplate on an astonishing 11 of every 100 cars. No, not Beverly Hills — it’s Oak Brook.
Kenilworth and Chicago’s Gold Coast aren’t far behind: 10.8 percent of all cars registered in the North Shore suburb sport a Mercedes hood ornament; 9 percent in the pricey city neighborhood. […]
The most popular cars? Here’s what a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of state vehicle-registration data found:
* Throughout the six-county Chicago area, Chevrolet is the most-popular car make. No. 2: Ford (followed by Toyota, then Honda). In fact, Chevy and Fords are tops in popularity in 247 of 294 ZIP codes in the city and suburbs. (The vehicle-registration data includes make of car but doesn’t show particular models.)
* In Chicago, Chevys are the most popular make in the greatest number of ZIP codes (28). No. 2: Ford (18).
* In Cook County, every single ZIP code is dominated by one of five makes of automobile — Chevy, Ford, Toyota, Honda and Mercedes.
* Merits aside, the usual Statehouse suspects are on the winners and losers list in this ruling…
A state law requiring parental notification before a minor can get an abortion will remain on hold, a federal judge ruled, the latest in decades of complex legal wrangling. […]
The Parental Notice of Abortion Act was passed in 1984 and updated in 1995 but never enforced because the Illinois Supreme Court refused to issue rules spelling out how judges should handle appeals of the notification requirement. A federal court held that the law could not take effect without the rules in place. In 2006, the Supreme Court unexpectedly adopted the necessary rules.
U.S. District Judge David Coar last week refused to lift a federal court order that has blocked the notification law from taking effect, saying the law would place some minors in “legal limbo.”
The law allows a judge to waive the notification requirement if a waiver is in the minor’s “best interests,” but it doesn’t make clear how the minor may then obtain an abortion, Coar wrote in a 13-page opinion.
“The statute is contradictory and incomplete on its face,” Coar said. Coar rejected several other challenges to the law.
* But the most interesting part of this story is Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s role. Madigan brought this case up the ladder against the wishes of her allies in the pro-choice camp. Since the IL Supreme Court issued the compliance rules, Madigan claimed it was her duty to uphold the law as written. Now, she’ll be under immense pressure from both sides as she decides whether to appeal…
Thomas Brejcha of the Chicago-based Thomas More Society’s Pro-Life Law Center, said he expected Madigan to appeal, if need be, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
* This article claims there’s some weird severability language in the state’s new smoking ban law. Usually, bills state that if part of the law is overturned, the rest of the law remains intact.
The Peoria Journal Star article claims that the smoking ban law stated just the opposite. If even one part is overturned then the whole law is tossed out.
But I checked the actual law and the law appears to have the standard severability claim. So, even though opponents are starting to attack the law bit by bit, the entire law is probably safe from being overturned unless a judge specifically does so…
A Bureau County judge today will begin untangling a case that could potentially snuff out Illinois’ 2-month-old ban on smoking in public places. […]
But Carrington’s lawyer, Peoria attorney Dan O’Day, claims in several motions filed late last week that multiple provisions of the Smoke-Free Illinois Act - from the signage requirements to the likelihood of illegal invasions of privacy and fines - are unenforceable at best, or even unconstitutional. […]
And among several other challenges to the minutia of the law, Carrington’s case also questions the constitutionality of the state’s requirement for businesses to post no smoking signs at entrances and exits - some with the name of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the insignia of the American Lung Association or other logos. The constitutionality of mandated ash tray removal also is challenged.
* Here’s the article’s passage on severability…
O’Day said the severability clause in the Smoke-Free Illinois Act contains a peculiarity that appears to do the opposite: invalidate the entire statute if one of its provisions becomes a courtroom casualty.
* Here’s the severability language in the law…
Section 60. Severability. If any provision, clause or paragraph of this Act shall be held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such validity shall not affect the other provisions of this Act.
That’s pretty much the standard language. Am I missing something here?
* More…
* Saturday, business owner Jon Hemminghaus held what he calls a “smoke-in”. He invited anyone to stand inside or within 15 feet of the front door of his business and smoke to protest the Smoke-Free Illinois Act.
* County officials still unsure how to enforce smoking ban
* Sanity is starting to rear its head as a legislator who stood with Gov. Blagojevich at NIU when he made the announcement about knocking down Cole Hall backs away…
A $40 million plan to demolish and replace the Northern Illinois University building that was the scene of last month’s massacre is “off the table,” a GOP lawmaker said Monday.
But a campus official said the plan remains an option that will be discussed among “university family” along with other ideas for Cole Hall. And Gov. Blagojevich, who first announced the plan, will follow NIU’s lead, his office said.
The Republican legislator, Sen. Bradley Burzynski of Downstate Clare, whose district covers NIU, said he does not favor knocking down the building after being inundated by voters who universally believe it would cost too much and who criticized Blagojevich for bursting out of the gates to announce the plan amid great fanfare.
“I’d say this has generated more mail, e-mail and phone calls in my office than any other local issue has in 18 years that I’ve been in Springfield,” Burzynski said.
“It’s off the table for now,” he said.
* The Rockford Register Star broke this story, and here’s its take…
Burzynski said that after he got over the excitement of the governor’s announcement at NIU, he decided the plan for the state to borrow $40 million on behalf of the university was not fiscally prudent.
“Everyone got caught up in the governor’s announcement and willingness to try to help the university,” Burzynski said.
NIU officials did not respond Monday to requests for comment. And Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch would not say whether Blagojevich remained committed to the plan.
“We stand by President Peters and the NIU community and will continue to support their decisions on how best to move forward,” she said in a statement.
1) Propose something big without consulting key legislators
2) Get lots of press coverage
3) Legislators hear from unhappy constituents
4) Legislators tell legislative leaders that they can’t be with the program
5) Proposal falls apart
6) Attack legislators
7) Find a new press pop opportunity and repeat
* Yesterday, the Sun-Times reported that the governor’s 2006 promise to help rebuild the fire-ravaged Pilgrim Baptist Church with $1 million in state money was never fulfilled. Instead, the cash went to a private school that took the money and moved somewhere else.
Oops.
Here’s the initial response…
Blagojevich’s administration said last week the allotment to Loop Lab School fulfilled the governor’s pledge to help the church.
But by late Sunday, aware of criticism from lawmakers and church leaders, the administration changed its tune and was scrambling to figure out what exactly had been negotiated between the state and church.
* Then, after the story broke, the governor threw a couple of former staffers under the bus and promised more money…
Blagojevich attributed the $1 million “bureaucratic mix-up” to the work of a couple of ex-staffers and pledged another $1 million –on top of what was erroneously spent — to help the Bronzeville architectural gem recover from a devastating 2006 fire.
* The guv canceled other plans and rushed to a church property to hold a quickie press conference…
‘’I'm as frustrated as you are,” he told reporters at Pilgrim’s satellite worship space at 33rd and Indiana. “I’m angry about those who work for me who allowed this to happen. We’ve identified a couple of people involved, and they no longer work for us, but I think they made an honest mistake.”
Actually, it was the governor who made the mistake. You’d think he’d want to check up on that church, but the promise he made was so 2006. On to the next press pop. Don’t look back or you’ll risk seeing the wreckage.
“We have no indication this is not a real program,” Blagojevich said. “They went elsewhere, used the money elsewhere.”
* Yet, nobody even knows whether the school is still functioning…
But aides admit they’re still trying to reach the school’s director. They sent a letter to 318 W. Adams, but when CBS 2 went there, the doorman said the school uses this address, but it’s not open, nor is it operating. We couldn’t find a working number.
Public records show the school used the money to buy space on the second floor of a building at 318 W. Adams St.. The seller—who also lent the school $305,000—was Card LLC, a company controlled by John Thomas.
Convicted of federal fraud and money-laundering charges in New York in 2004, Thomas became an undercover FBI mole as part of federal investigations into political corruption and real estate crimes. His role as an informant was revealed six days before the Lab School signed the papers to buy a floor of the 18-story building.
His name, “John Thomas,” was a pseudonym. Thomas, named Bernard Barton, moved to Chicago in 2000. He ran a billboard company and several firms that invested in downtown high-rises or helped other developers obtain bank loans.
His partner in Card LLC, developer Robert Horner, said he and Thomas are selling floors as office condos, and have sold about half the units in the Adams building. Horner confirmed the school bought the entire second floor for roughly $1.3 million in May 2007.
* From last month’s Sun-Times interview of Thomas…
Thomas provided a fly-on-the-wall look inside Rezko’s real estate operations and his desperate attempts to keep his projects afloat.
Sources said Thomas also logged frequent visits to Rezko from Gov. Blagojevich and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Blagojevich and Obama were among the many politicians for whom Rezko raised campaign cash. Neither has been charged with any wrongdoing.
* One more thing. John Thomas’ lawyer is Jeffrey Steinbeck. Steinbeck is also Stu Levine’s lawyer. Steinbeck is the go-to guy if you want to cut a deal with the feds. He also represented former city treasurer Jim Laski.
You may think Chicago is a big city, but in many ways it’s really a small town.
* After all the hyperventilating in the media last week about Sam Zell’s threats to sell naming rights to Wrigley Field, ask that the park’s historic landmark status be weakened or even tossed out, and then move ahead with the sale of the building to the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, I thought I’d call Big Jim and see what he had to say…
Former Gov. Jim Thompson is in charge of crafting the sale. Gov. Rod Blagojevich asked Thompson to get this done, and he’s doing his best, but he admitted last week that he was “presenting this idea at the worst possible time.”
Still, Thompson said, “Everybody should calm down about Zell or destroying Wrigley Field or putting up some sort of name.”
Thompson said he wouldn’t do anything to “destroy the charm” of Wrigley Field if the state buys the park and leases it to the new Cubs owners. “I love the Cubs,” he said.
But what about all that talk of relaxing or even abandoning the stadium’s landmark status? Thompson vowed to “keep those elements of Wrigley which are landmarked and which the city won’t agree to change,” like the signage out front. However, he said, he needed to make sure the park was “habitable” for the teams. Plus, luxury suites need to be added to produce revenues.
“We need to retain the charm and ambiance which brings a full house every game day and make it a decent, inhabitable revenue-producing stadium.”
Even without Zell’s remarks, Thompson would have a tough time. Illinois politics is an absolute mess right now. The Democrats are fighting each other, and nothing is getting done. The budget is deeply in the red. The governor’s adviser Tony Rezko is about to go on trial for corruption. It couldn’t get much worse.
And I admit my inherit bias at the end of the column…
All I know is Thompson’s game this spring will surely be more entertaining than anything played at Wrigley.
After hiring engineers to determine the cost of renovating 94-year-old Wrigley Field, the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority will make an offer to the Tribune Co. next week to buy the historic ballpark, a top official said Monday.
* Blair Kamin of the Tribune is dead-set against relaxing the landmark status…
Like any property owner, Zell has the right to request that landmark status be relaxed or even revoked. But he shouldn’t get special treatment, especially not if it endangers more of Chicago’s architectural gems. Mayor Richard M. Daley and his planners need to step up to the plate. For what’s at stake goes far beyond the name Wrigley Field.
* Since I wrote the above column, the Cubs have sent out a much milder spokesperson to talk about naming rights…
“We’re sensitive and I would think we would get some credit to the way we’ve run the ball park since the Tribune has owned. We haven’t ruined the ball park,” said Crane Kenney, the Tribune Co. executive in charge of the Cubs. […]
“I remember when lights were introduced and a number of people who said, ‘Nothing will be the same, the park will be ruined and the atmosphere is going to change.’ And it hasn’t,” Kenney added.
* The way you read the standard overly-long Tribune story is to scan the first couple of paragraphs, skip over most of the “we’ve gone over this a hundred times before” background in the middle, then head right to the bottom, where some of the more interesting stuff always seems to get buried. It was no different in today’s story about Tony Rezko’s trial…
Also listed as witnesses were Susan Lichtenstein, the former top lawyer in the Blagojevich administration
Lichtenstein walked off the job and took almost her entire top staff with her. It’s been a mystery for years exactly why she left (nobody will talk for publication), but the word was that she and her staff may have been protesting an order from on high.
* I told you about this late Friday, but let’s go over it again…
A judge on Friday ordered prosecutors in the Antoin “Tony” Rezko trial to steer clear of evidence intended to show that the longtime fundraiser for Gov. Rod Blagojevich manipulated the state hiring process.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve, who will preside at Rezko’s trial when it opens Monday, also prevents prosecutors from seeking to demonstrate Rezko was behind large political contributions to Blagojevich from two members of a corrupt state hospital regulatory panel.
The setbacks for the prosecution, however, do not strike at the heart of its case — that Rezko allegedly exploited his influence with the governor to scheme to illegally siphon millions of dollars from the hospital board and a state pension panel.
I dunno about that last assertion. Those contributions were thought to be key evidence that something was smelled bad at the hospital board. The judge also ruled that prosecutors couldn’t pursue the connection between Rezko and state hiring. Prosecutors, you will recall, were planning to call Jennifer Thomas as one of their main witnesses. Thomas was an assistant to Joe Cini, the governor’s former patronage chief.
[After Kelley had initially ordered the subpoenas relased] Blagojevich administration lawyers then said they had uncovered new evidence and asked Kelley to reconsider. The “new evidence” was a letter from an assistant in U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office asking that the administration not release the subpoenas because it “could impede the investigation … ”
“With two exceptions noted below, the U.S. Attorney’s Office continues to request that you not disclose the fact that the subpoenas have been served,” wrote Julie Rudner, assistant U.S. attorney. “Any such disclosure could impede the investigation and thereby interfere with the enforcement of law.”
Springfield attorney Don Craven, who represents the BGA, argued the letter said an investigation “could” be impeded, not that it would. He also maintained the letter did not constitute new evidence, and Kelley agreed, but added it would be “totally inappropriate” for the subpoenas to be released until the appeals process is completed.
So, we’re down to what “could” means? Full employment for lawyers.
In the end, our choice of Oberweis is based on the fact that he better represents a moderate to conservative district, and has grown into a more responsive and less confrontational candidate. And he did a far better job of explaining and supporting his positions than did Foster, who projected less certainty, less clarity and less confidence than he did before the primary.
So it’s Oberweis with our fingers crossed, and the knowledge that we can review the choice again.
What we hear over and over from Republicans and Democrats in our communities is that people are tired of the bickering and divisiveness in government, whether in Springfield or Washington. Oberweis’ relentless attacks on state Sen. Chris Lauzen in the Republican primary election hint that he is not the right candidate to end government gridlock.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has launched an $850,000 ad buy in former Rep. Dennis Hastert’s (R) district, with an ad accusing Democrat Bill Foster of being a big-government liberal and not representing change.
The NRCC’s investment in next Tuesday’s special election and GOP nominee Jim Oberweis is now up to about $1.2 million — a hefty sum for a committee that only recently got out of debt.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has spent just more than $600,000 on the race.
Foster will unveil a Barack Obama endorsement ad today.
* Andy Shaw did a nice roundup of the race. You can find their debate at that link as well.
* Halvorson mum as her airport deadline for the state passes
The Illinois Department of Transportation did not comply with Halvorson’s demand that it submit its long-awaited master plan for the airport near Peotone to the Federal Aviation Administration by March 1.
“I do not know which I am more appalled by: the lack of security of the ballots or the Election Commission’s failure to follow yet another Illinois election law directive,” Urda said at last week’s County Board meeting, outlining her latest allegation of two legal breaches by the commission during the Feb. 5 election
Extreme vulgarity and taunting by college basketball fans this season raise the question: How much is too much? For schools and conferences, it’s time to act
The project, from north of Clear Lake Avenue south to East Lake Drive, will begin March 9 and includes pavement patching, milling and resurfacing. It also will involve rehabilitation of the bridges on West Lake Drive and on Interstate 72 over South Sixth Street, which means there could be traffic tie-ups at the I-55/72 interchange.
“I will go to Senator (Dick) Durbin’s office and Representative (Tim) Johnson’s office and there are some meetings lined up to see what we can do to make our presence known and to see what we can do,” McCoy said.
“In the performance of his duties, President Stroger submitted his executive budget to the board’s finance committee on October 17, 2007,” says the complaint, filed in county court by Stroger, state’s attorney Richard Devine, and sheriff Tom Dart, naming all 17 board members as defendants.”
“This report confirms what many of us have said for years — that county government is a patronage dumping ground and run for the benefit of political workers and politicians instead of taxpayers,” said Commissioner Forrest Claypool, a Stroger critic. “We’ve seen another unnecessary half-billion-dollar tax increase to pay for the perpetuation of this system.”
* Prayer in Public Schools: Is the Illinois Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act Constitutional?
The Chicago Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACS) will host a panel discussion on Wednesday, March 5 at 12:15pm at John Marshall Law School, Room 200, 315 S. Plymouth Court, Chicago.
Even if Schock or state Sen. Debbie Halvorson, D-Crete, win their respective races for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, they are not obligated to close out their Illinois campaign funds, so long as they keep paying the filing fees twice a year.
A watchdog group today filed a complaint alleging that Collins withheld information on the political money she raises and spends. The Campaign for Political Reform wants the State Board of Elections to investigate.
A state legislative panel last week delivered an unmistakable “No” to the governor: You cannot massively expand health coverage in the state without legislative approval.
Barry Maram, the governor’s director of health care and family services, said the administration is not touting free insurance, but the opportunity for people to buy into affordable insurance policies.
* Bernard Schoenburg: Democrat has difficult fundraising battle in 18th District
For Callahan to raise the kind of money she is talking about would certainly be extraordinary for a Democrat in the 18th. But that, in part, is because the district, while changed periodically through redistricting, has been solidly held by LaHood and before him, then-U.S. House Minority Leader BOB MICHEL, R-Peoria, for decades.
