Tuesday flood watch
Tuesday, Jun 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Uh-Oh…
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a warning that about two dozen levees in the region, in Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa, could be overtopped by floodwaters this week. The water is expected to continue to rise by several more feet this week as the flood waters from the north move into the region, and 26-27 levees between Davenport Iowa and St Louis may be overtopped if rapid sandbagging is not completed in time. Some of the communites at high risk include Qunicy and Alton Illinois, Hannibal Missouri, and parts of St Louis can expect moderate flooding.
Flood stages at St Louis are expected to reach to a few inches below the top of the Choteau Island levee (40 feet) which protects 2400 acres. Another concern is that some parts of the levee system that protect the Metro East area (Granite City, East St Louis, Cahokia, Wood River) have been determined by the US Army Corps of Engineers to be partly structurally deficient, and prone to underseepage, with a slight risk of liquefaction and failure. Approximately 150,000 people live behind those levees.
* Levee breaks…
A levee gave way early Tuesday near Lomax, Illinois, flooding thousands of acres of farmland and the village of Gulfport, said Deputy Donnie Seitz of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department.
“It’s been an uphill battle from the start, and the levee just broke loose,” Seitz said.
U.S. 34 “could be under 10 feet of water within 15 to 20 hours,” he said.
* More…
McCloud said there have been more than a half-dozen levee breaches in Illinois in the past week or so, including in the Mercer County community of Keithsburg, where water continued to rise.
* Audio report
* More trouble in Grafton…
“It’s coming up the street,” said Jeneane DeSherlia, who was moving everything on the first floor of a three-story building she and her husband own in the Mississippi River community of Grafton to the higher floors in anticipation of the ground floor being a couple feet underwater within the next few days. “It’s getting closer.”
* Gov. Blagojevich calls out more National Guard troops…
Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich today activated an additional 400 Illinois National Guard troops to assist with flood efforts along the Mississippi River, bringing the total troops engaged in the flood fight to 1,100. A State helicopter and additional rescue personnel are on stand-by for any additional emergency situations such as a levee break. […]
The Governor also applauded conservation police officers from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) for assisting with a rescue operation this morning after a levee failed in Henderson County near Gulfport. More than a dozen people who were sandbagging the levee were stranded there until conservation officers and a Medivac helicopter from Iowa rescued them. People stranded on nearby US 34 and in a house in Carman were also rescued. […]
To date the Governor has declared 17 counties disaster areas.
* More info can be found at this link. Road and bridge closures are listed here.
* Related…
* Bush Vows to Speed Relief for Flood Victims
* Quincy mayor expresses pride in outpouring of help in sandbagging effort
* Wakonda State Park 90 percent flooded after levee gives way; workers not optimistic as water begins to erode South River levee in Marion County
* Seven Things You Can Do Right Now To Help Flood Victims
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Jun 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Which team - between the White Sox, Cubs and Cardinals - will have the best record at the end of the season? Explain.
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Congressional roundup *** UPDATED x1 ***
Tuesday, Jun 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This is why it’s been so tough to defeat Republican Congresscritter Mark Kirk, even though his district trends more Democratic with each passing year…
Kirk says, without the [assault weapons ban], even police officers in full body armor are in danger.
“They can feel somewhat protected from a normal pistol, but against weapons like these body armor offers no significant protection for a police officer,” said Rep. Mark Kirk, (R) Illinois.
He may vote with his party a lot more than he lets on, but Kirk comes off locally as a moderate or even liberal Republican. That breed is just about gone in this country. The Reagan/Gingrich Repubs took care of many of them, and last year the Democrats swept out most of the rest, particularly in the Northeast.
Illinois is just about the last bastion of moderate/liberal Republicans, and many of them (Mulligan, Coulson, Kirk, etc.) are being heavily targeted for defeat this year.
* Meanwhile, the Tony Rezko slam against Democratic congressional candidate Debbie Halvorson was countered by a local business leader this week…
A top official with the Will County Center for Economic Development is not happy with attempts to link a third airport governance bill to convicted fundraiser Tony Rezko.
Jim Roolf, who chairs the CED’s Business Labor Coalition said “it’s flat out wrong” to connect the bill, sponsored by Democratic congressional challenger Debbie Halvorson, to Rezko.
That link was first made by fellow U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Chicago, but propagated this week by the campaign of Republican challenger Marty Ozinga III.
“I’m going to call Mr. Ozinga myself,” Roolf said, “I think it’s unfair that they’re saying what they have. The legislation was developed by the Business Labor Coalition, and we approached Sen. Halvorson to sponsor it.
So far, Ozinga’s campaign hasn’t budged.
*** UPDATE *** Democratic state Rep. David Miller, a close ally of Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., has just sent out a blistering press release on this subject that goes off on Halvorson…
Halvorson apparently thinks she can fool voters by saying “I won’t let Chicago politicians tell us what to do.” Yet, she regularly meets with Mayor Daley on airport financing; asks Congressman Rahm Emanuel for strategic advice; seeks Gov. Blagojevich’s legislative support; and served as Emil Jones’ majority leader.
In short, Halvorson relies on the Chicago machine for just about everything, yet attempts to bad mouth the same people as “bigwigs from Chicago.”
Halvorson says it’s about “local control.” But ALNAC is locally controlled. ALNAC is chaired by the Mayor of University Park, a Will County home-rule community that borders the airport footprint.
Someone should tell Halvorson that there’s a difference between local control and Rezko control.
This is becoming an all-out intra-party war. I wonder when the DCCC is finally going to take notice?
Read the whole thing.
* Related…
* Weller keeps wife’s finances unknown
* Biggert eyes rail traffic issues
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The old canard
Tuesday, Jun 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* There it is again…
Illinois could lose billions of dollars in federal road construction money if the state legislature doesn’t get on the ball and pass a capital bill, said House Minority Leader Tom Cross Monday. […]
“If we happen to lose $9 billion in capital money, that would be criminal,” Rep. Cross said. […]
Federal road funds are set to expire in the next few months and into next year
Nobody has yet been able to prove to me that this “We’re gonna lose $9 billion” statement is a fact. Yet, it is contantly passed along by reporters as if it is true.
* And I’ve heard this before…
Although [Cross] said Republicans have been burned as badly as anyone by the governor’s saying one thing and doing another, “We’re willing to take a chance,” he said. “We’re not picking sides. We’ll do what’s best for Illinois.”
Except when the governor vetoed out the “pork” from last year’s budget, he left House Republican projects intact.
* Meanwhile, my old buddy Steve Huntley has an idea for Illinois voters: Vote Republican…
But voters don’t have to wait until 2010 to voice their dissatisfaction with that. They can vent in the balloting for the seats in the Illinois General Assembly at stake in the November elections.
Their watchword should be: Just say no to one-party rule.
That means voting Republican.
* But his conclusion doesn’t match up with the current debate…
[Electing Republicans] also might boost impeachment prospects.
Maybe in the Senate, but the House GOP has gone out of its way to dismiss and downplay impeachment talk.
Discuss.
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* Freshman Sen. Michael Noland (D-Elgin) has a letter to the editor in today’s Daily Herald…
As state senator for Illinois’ 22nd District, there has not been a single vote I’ve taken without believing I had the support of the people of my district. The “recall” vote, however, is probably the first exception to this general rule and so I now answer for it.
Noland voted against recall, and he lists his reason for doing so. He doesn’t think judges should be recalled, and he believes local political battles in his area are so divisive that recall would be abused.
What he doesn’t mention is that the Senate refused to vote on a recall proposal which didn’t include judges and local officials.
* And then we get to the crux of the matter…
Finally, I understand and even share your frustration regarding the governor. However, this, while in part his own doing, is something hard sought by those who want not so much his head as his job. Again, this is what elections are for.
Emphasis added for obvious reasons. Noland apparently believes that this impeachment stuff is all about Lisa. As if the majority of Illinoisans who favor the beginning of impeachment proceedings just want AG Lisa Madigan to be their governor. Weak.
* Last bit…
If and when he is charged with misconduct we can, under our constitution, impeach him.
I’m not sure what he means about the governor being “charged with misconduct.” Is that via the US Attorney or via a House impeachment proceeding?
Anyway, defend the letter and/or pick it apart.
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Firing squad?
Tuesday, Jun 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* There have been those who claim that the media is not overreacting to Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s numerous screw-ups. I’ve disagreed, and this lede from a Daily Herald story about last night’s visit to Palatine by Stroger helps prove my point…
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger faced the firing squad Monday in Palatine.
Yeah, that’ll promote sane debate.
If somebody wrote a comment like that here I might call the cops.
* Now, there is no denying that Stroger is a screw-up. And there’s no denying that his tax hike will cause pain. But some of this rhetoric is just goofy…
“No taxation without representation,” said Nancy Golemba. “I don’t feel Cook County represents me. It represents Chicago.”
Whether you “feel” you’re being represented or not, you are. The handful of partisan leftist Democats who talked about emigrating to Canada after George W. Bush was reelected felt the same way as Ms. Golemba. But they were wrong and so is she.
* They’re also being played…
State Rep. Suzie Bassi and State Sen. Matt Murphy walked away encouraged their proposed bill that would make it easier for municipalities to secede from the county gained momentum after Stroger said he wouldn’t oppose secession because it’s a local issue.
Yeah, that’ll happen. Sen. Murphy, who’s an able freshman legislator, is a Tier One target this year. He’s using this issue to get back to Springfield so he can reintroduce legislation that won’t go anywhere.
* Stroger, for his part, was apparently calm and cool in the face of the local “firing squad”…
Stroger, who remained unflappable, said “people don’t trust politicians . . . and that’s they way this job works.”
He also said people near a county or state line sometimes get pinched by a sales tax increase.
“To be honest with you, that’s part of being in a large government,” he said. “There are going to be areas that are harder hit than others.”
* But, as I’ve said many times before, he brings much of this scorn on himself…
On nepotism in hiring practices:
“It’s simply not true,” he said, taking shots at media coverage criticizing him for giving friends and family members jobs.
His cousin, Donna Dunnings, the county’s chief financial officer, was among those in attendance. And he cited Carmen Triche-Colvin, wife of Stroger’s friend, state Rep. Mario Colvin.
“These are two highly qualified women who I’m proud to have serve in my administration,” Stroger said, adding they look out for his best interests, which coincide with Cook County’s best interests.
But when Stroger introduced Dr. Steven Martin, chief operating officer for the department of public health, he didn’t mention Martin is his brother-in-law.
Good grief.
Anyway, try not to let your anger carry you away in comments. Hostile “drive-by” comments will, as always, be deleted.
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