* Eric Zorn recently predicted that Rod Blagojevich’s lawyers wouldn’t put up a defense. Instead, they’ll rest their case right after the prosecution does so, explaining that the feds hadn’t proved anything beyond a reasonable doubt. We’ll have to wait and see if Zorn is correct, but in the meantime the defense is saying that they could call Gov. Pat Quinn as a witness…
About 10 minutes before Blagojevich arrived, his lawyer Sheldon Sorosky held a quick pen-and-pad session with television reporters in which he threw out some names of potential witnesses. Among them, he mentioned the possibility of Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn being called to the stand.
Keep in mind that the defense wants these witnesses (Rahm Emanuel, Dick Durbin, etc.) to testify that they saw Blagojevich do nothing illegal during their dealings with him. Wouldn’t it be a hoot to see Quinn testifying to that? Yikes.
* Quinn’s campaign, meanwhile, will protest Jeb Bush’s Wednesday fundraiser for Bill Brady. From a press release…
Bloomington– As former Florida Governor Jeb Bush visits Illinois to headline a fundraiser for Sen. Bill Brady’s gubernatorial campaign, Lt. Gov. Nominee Sheila Simon will host a rally to “Keep Bushonomics Out of Illinois” at 6:00 p.m.
This event will be free and open to the public, and will highlight the contrasts between the positive economic policies offered by the Democratic gubernatorial ticket, and the backwards, regressive policies proposed by Sen. Bill Brady, Republican nominee for governor.
The rally will be held in the Laborers Local 362 Hall, Bloomington, Illinois. It will also be sponsored by the McLean County Democratic Party.
* Republican lt. governor nominee Jason Plummer was in Quincy the other day and he was asked again about his tax returns…
Plummer drew attention recently when he was called out by Democrats for not releasing his tax records. He says he refuses to let the issue sidetrack his campaign.
“I get out there and I talk to people about the issues they care about,” he said. “I’m not going to allow (Illinois Gov.) Pat Quinn to really change the topic of conversation. When I get out there, people talk about jobs, talk about the economy, talk about education.
“They talk about a lot things but that’s not something they talk about, nor should it be.”
He’ll never get away from that question.
* Congressman Mark Kirk’s campaign has sent out a press release on the state’s bond rating downgrade…
“While many are focused on the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, Illinois families are focused on the state debt crisis right here in Illinois. Alexi Giannoulias stood by and watched as our state’s debt skyrocketed and our pension liabilities spiraled out of control. His failures at Broadway Bank cost the FDIC $394 million. His failures in Bright Start cost Illinois families more than $70 million. And now his failure to do his job as State Treasurer could cost our state even more. The recent downgrading of Illinois’ credit rating by Fitch and Moody’s should be a major wake-up call to the citizens of Illinois. We need fiscal leadership at the federal and state level to rescue our state and turn this economy around.”
I asked the campaign to explain just how Giannoulias’ “failure to do his job” resulted in the credit rating downgrade. I’ll let you know what they say.
* And Sen. Dick Durbin again weighed in on Congressman Kirk’s problems…
“I think Mark Kirk has been brought down to earth by the revelations of some of his exaggerations”, said Durbin today speaking Mark Kirk’s Military record. While making sure to give him respect for the 21 years served, the Illinois senior senator stopped just short of calling Kirk a liar.
I think he stopped well short of “calling Kirk a liar,” but watch the video for yourself.
* Related…
* Erickson: Election sure to have missteps
* Gubernatorial candidates praise dentists at free clinic
* Candidates make their cases at clinic
* Schoenburg: Some underdog talk at governor’s office
* Quinn touts jobs program during Decatur stop
* ‘Put Illinois to Work’ Creates 9,366 Jobs
* Potshots ring a little hollow
* Statehouse Insider: Recall amendment not a panacea
* Rock Island Co. Republicans host one-of-a-kind fundraiser: The first “Shot Heard ‘Round the State” sporting clays tournament took place at the Bi-State Sportsmen’s Association in Colona and included a raffle, awards dinner, and a “bragging rights” mixer. Around 65 shooters participated in the fundraiser that planners hoped would be one-of-a-kind and still have meaning for the participants.
* Belleville paralyzed veteran challenges incumbent Holbrook in House race
* County Board president hopefuls wary of suburban red-light cameras
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Question of the day
Monday, Jun 14, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller
* As I told subscribers last week, punishments have been meted out to Republican state Reps. Bill Black and Bob Biggins for their votes for the pension borrowing bill…
[Rep. Black] now goes from one of two deputy minority leader positions to one of six assistant Republican leader positions.
He said his salary will decline “by about $2,500 to $3,000 a month” and he no longer will be the Republican leader on the House floor. […]
Black said some Republicans were angry that he spoke on the House floor after Cross had spoken on behalf of the GOP caucus.
“The mistake I made, and that I feel badly about, is that I have a rule that I will never speak after the Republican leader will speak,” Black explained. “And I did that this time and that was a mistake on my part. As I told Tom (Cross), I don’t know whether I wasn’t focused on the fact that he had already spoken or what. I should have not done that and I apologized to him for that.
Biggins…
Just weeks after the House vote, Republican House leader Tom Cross of Oswego stripped Biggins of his title of minority spokesman for a House appropriations committee. That title came with a $10,327 pay boost, on top of salary and stipends given for committee assignments, of which every General Assembly member has at least one.
The News-Gazette weighs in…
That sort of bullying partisanship is among the things that voters find distasteful about politics, no matter what party it comes from.
* The Question: Were the demotions of Black and Biggins the proper punishment? Explain, please.
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Support drops for imprisoning Blagojevich
Monday, Jun 14, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Not quite the whole story…
The Democratic party may not want Rod Blagojevich, but that doesn’t mean Democrats want the former governor to go to jail.
A Rasmussen poll released Sunday showed that party identity still does play a significant role in what Illinois voters think should happen to Blagojevich, currently on trial for corruption, including trying to sell President Barack Obama’s former Senate seat. The poll found 68 percent of Republicans saying Blagojevich should be convicted and sent off to prison, compared to only 44 percent of Democrats. In a column on Sunday, the Chicago Tribune’s John Kass dismissed the notion of political identity having any impact on a juror “in a Combine state when public money is on the dinner table.”
In reality, the crosstabs (subscribers only) show that a 44-28 plurality of self-identified Democrats favor imprisoning Blagojevich. Either a majority or a plurality of all but three demographic groups favor imprisoning Blagojevich.
A 55-18 majority of African-Americans oppose imprisonment, as does a 36-31 plurality of those who make less than $20K per year. A tiny 45-44 plurality of those unsure of whether to repeal the national health insurance law is also opposed to imprisonment. Keep in mind that these small subgroups will have a very large margin of error, so there is a real danger of outliers and false results here.
Also, keep in mind that the poll was conducted June 7th, before Lon Monk’s damaging testimony began. Still, this is a big movement from a December, 2008 Rasmussen poll taken two days after he was arrested when 79 percent of likely voters said Blagojevich should go to jail, including 73 percent of Democrats, 68 percent of African-Americans and 69 percent of those making under $20K per year.
Toplines…
* Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable impression of Rod Blagojevich?
5% Very favorable
8% Somewhat favorable
16% Somewhat unfavorable
69% Very unfavorable
2% Not sure
* How closely are you following news reports about former Governor Rod Blagojevich’s trial on federal corruption charges?
31% Very closely
38% Somewhat closely
7% Not very closely
8% Not at all
0% Not sure
* Should Blagojevich go to jail for his actions?
57% Yes
17% No
26% Not sure
* After taking Friday off, the trial has resumed this morning…
Lon Monk is back on the stand saying he witnessed Rod Blagojevich grow upset when he learned the hospital wasn’t returning his brother’s phone calls soliciting campaign contributions.
“He wasn’t happy, he got up and said: ‘Screw these guys,’ and got on the phone,” Monk testified Blagojevich said in a meeting with him and Robert Blagojevich.
Monk said Rod Blagojevich then called the governor’s office and talked to an aide about the status of state funds for the hospital.
“Don’t do anything with it until I talk to you,” Monk said he overheard Rod Blagojevich say.
Oof.
And…
Monk told jurors this morning that it went down like this: Blagojevich wanted Johnston to raise $100,000 for Friends of Blagojevich in exchange for signing a bill that would extend cash payments to the horse-racing industry a windfall from Illinois’ nine casinos.
Monk, who also was a lobbyist for Johnston, testified he knew this illegal and wanted to get the contribution in hand as quickly as possible.
“I was trying to get the contribution as quickly as I could so there would be more time between the contribution and the signing of the bill,” Monk said.
* This story isn’t as bad as it may seem…
Potential jurors waiting to be questioned in Rod Blagojevich’s case discussed the trial’s news coverage with each other last week, apparently flouting a judge’s order just days after they were told to stop reading or listening to such news, a former prospective juror told the Chicago Sun-Times.
But only one of the chosen jurors was in the room at the time, and she didn’t participate in the discussion.
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column is about the trial coverage…
Keep in mind while watching coverage of the Rod Blagojevich trial that reporters in the courtroom have a far keener understanding of what is going on than do the jurors. Their perceptions are not necessarily the same as the jurors’ views. So, their coverage may not match up to how the case will turn out.
For most of the jurors, this is their first time in a courtroom. Unlike most of the reporters at the trial, this experience is quite new to all but two of them who have served on juries before. And, unlike many of the reporters, they have limited knowledge of what the trial is about and the context of the charges.
Most of the jurors know little of Blagojevich and his administration except for their skimming of the local news and maybe seeing him a time or two on TV entertainment programs. One juror said she checks the news “only for the weather.”
If you’re reading this column, then you most likely have more interest in politics than the average citizen. So, to people like us, some of those jurors may seem ignorant and even clueless. But people like us aren’t “normal” citizens. We pay attention to politics closely because it’s in our blood.
Most people, like many of those jurors, live their lives almost totally divorced from day-to-day political machinations.
I’ve often tried to explain this political disconnect with my “Hockey Theory.” And it probably applies to the Blagojevich trial as well.
I never played hockey as a kid. I can barely skate on ice. I have a vague memory of us owning a couple of hockey sticks back in the day, but my brothers and I probably just used them to terrorize each other.
I’ve seen two hockey games in person. One of my earliest memories of television is of a Blackhawks game, but other than that I’ve only watched parts of a few games on TV. I’ve never watched a complete game.
I almost never read about hockey in the papers and don’t know the players, although I am familiar with some historical names.
I’m well aware that the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup Final, and I know they have some great players, but I’m almost ashamed to say that I didn’t watch more than a few minutes of any of the playoff games and couldn’t tell you who the Blackhawks’ big names are if you put a gun to my head.
Two million people showed up in downtown Chicago to celebrate the Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup, but I wasn’t one of them, and I am more amazed by the turnout than what was said and who was there.
Plain and simple, I’m just not a hockey fan. I suppose I have too many other things to occupy my time.
That’s pretty much the way most people (half of whom don’t even vote) view politics in this country. And it’s probably somewhere around the same level of knowledge that many, if not most, of Blagojevich’s jurors have about his alleged crimes and misgovernance.
So while many of us can list many of the reasons why Blagojevich is guilty as sin (just as Blackhawks fans can tell you in detail how their team won the big trophy), many of his jurors are pretty much in the dark at the moment.
It’s not just ignorance that makes them different. If they didn’t know that Blagojevich’s friend, Chris Kelly, committed suicide rather than testify against his buddy, they won’t learn it at the trial, either. The same sort of thing goes for convicted felon Stu Levine. There will be no mention of Levine’s excessive drug use and heavy partying at the trial.
Combine all that with the decree that jurors must always keep an open mind and the result is they will almost undoubtedly see things differently than will the reporters who are covering the trial and the people who are following that coverage.
Jurors often see things in a way that “insiders” don’t, and they make judgments on things that get past some of us. George Ryan’s corruption trial produced countless banner headlines, but some of Ryan’s jurors said there was no single “smoking gun” that did Ryan in. Rather it was the overwhelming amount of evidence produced by the prosecution that sealed the former governor’s fate.
* Related…
* Blagojevich trial: Day 7
* Jury makeup could hold key to ultimate Blagojevich verdict
* Blagojevich trial: Dismissed jurors speak out
* From one juror to another: Put your life on hold
* Journal Star: Blagojevich trial unlikely to do state’s battered reputation any favors
* Zorn: Blogging for Blago
* Blagojevich Trial Also Good Teaching Material
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* On Friday, Fitch became the second ratings service in a week to downgrade Illinois’ credit rating…
The rating downgrade, to ‘A’ from ‘A+’, reflects the continuing unwillingness of the state of Illinois to take action to address its significant budgetary problems. The recently enacted FY 2011 budget does not begin to address the current operating gap, relying almost entirely on various forms of deficit financing to close the gap. The state is facing a growing budget deficit, very high accounts payables, and a significant structural gap for which solutions have been difficult to identify and implement.
Illinois entered this economic cycle with little financial flexibility to handle a downturn. It came out of the last recession relatively late and did not take actions to build its reserves or restructure its finances as its economy and the national economy grew over the five years leading into this recession. While the extent of the current fiscal problem was clear midway through FY 2009 as revenue estimates were downsized, comprehensive solutions have been repeatedly delayed. Faced with reduced revenues and an aversion to broad based tax increases, the FY 2010 enacted budget relied heavily on non-recurring revenues, particularly the use of debt to finance current operations. Declining revenues and an inability to achieve enacted budget solutions contributed to a $2 billion gap (7% of general fund resources) opening in the FY 2010 budget, for which no solutions were proposed other than to delay payments to vendors and schools districts and other entities that rely on state payments. Taking into account the pension payment that was effectively covered by a $3.5 billion GO issuance rather than general fund resources, the budgetary deficit has grown to almost $6 billion, 22% of general fund resources. The cumulative deficit, reflecting the pension borrowing but including the carryover of $3.7 billion in prior year deficits, is now projected to be $6.1 billion, or 19% of general fund resources.
Fitch indicated in December 2009 and in March 2010 that future rating action would be taken if the state did not address its operating deficit, its growing structural deficit, and its accumulated liabilities in a comprehensive way in the context of its FY 2011 budget. The enacted budget continues to push solutions out to the future; budgetary balance will continue to rely on sizeable borrowing, and those reliant on state payments will continue to have long waits to be paid. While the enacted budget for FY 2011 does include $1 billion in spending cuts, it leaves a $5.9 billion funding gap (21.3% of FY 2011 expected revenues) that is expected to be closed by issuing bonds, interfund transfers, and securitization of tobacco settlement revenues, and carries over $6 billion in accounts payable through another fiscal year.
And it’s already costing us more money…
Yields on some Illinois bonds on Friday rose above those of California, the poster child for local financial problems. The state’s 10-year bonds were quoted at 4.20 per cent while California’s 10-year bonds were quoted at 3.95 per cent, according to one trading desk.
“The market is growing more careful about Illinois,” said Matt Fabian, managing director at Municipal Market Advisors. “Higher yields are one of the costs of a poorly balanced budget.”
Straight talk…
“Something significant needs to happen on either side of the budget – either cutting spending or raising revenues,” said Karen Krop of Fitch. “Now they are relying on deficit borrowing.”
Ms Krop said Illinois has budgeted to raise more than $8bn with bonds in the current and next fiscal years. “There doesn’t seem to be an endgame,” she said.
Context…
- Eight U.S. states, including California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Illinois, risk lower credit ratings because they lack completed budgets less than three weeks before the start of their new fiscal years.
A ninth, New York, has operated without one since its year started April 1. All are gripped by political stalemates over how to cope with a collapse in tax revenue that included a $67 billion decline in the 12 months ended June 30, 2009, according to the Census Bureau. The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government called that the biggest on record.
* Two maps. The first is state budget gaps. Click the pic for more info, but the redder the state, the higher the gap…
The bluer the state, the higher the revenue shortage…
* Related…
* Big State, Big Cuts, Little Room: As the new head of the Illinois Department of Human Services, Michelle R.B. Saddler knew she would confront tough choices in preparing a budget that juggled rising needs for services with tumbling state revenue. But she wasn’t prepared for the long list of mandates and governor’s priorities that tied her hands. She wasn’t supposed to eliminate services required by law or court order. She was to spare Medicaid-eligible services and food-stamp benefits. And she couldn’t jeopardize residents’ safety or well-being. “What’s left?” she said.
* State’s budget crisis could get worse
* Steinberg: Accept grim truth — Illinois is broke
* Herald & Review: State finances founder as ‘leaders’ fail
* Pantagraph: Bond-rating drop should push politicians to act
* RR Star: Illinois continues to fail to live up to pension obligations
* Sun-Times: Pension borrowing a matter of survival
* Illinois Lottery tops $2 billion in sales for 4th year
* Tribune: Another video gamble
* Quinn signs Seth’s Law in Harrisburg
* Quinn announces $6M grant to broadcast museum
* Former prisoners aren’t landing tech jobs, so state revamping program
* State DNA database more than 20,000 samples behind
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*** UPDATE *** Note to the Giannoulias campaign: If you’re gonna use a surrogate, make sure the surrogate knows what she’s talking about. From a press release…
The negative campaign being waged against my 21 years of service in the United States Navy Reserve turned from dirty to ridiculous. Yesterday, WFLD allowed a partisan surrogate for Alexi Giannoulias to make ludicrous accusations without challenge or correction.
According to Giannoulias’ surrogate State Representative Linda Chapa LaVia (D-Aurora), I should “apologize to all the veterans especially the veterans during the Vietnam era because that’s when he supposedly served.” I was 13 years old when the Vietnam Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973.
Rep. Chapa LaVia was on a roll. She also said “allegations are starting to come out where he falsified that he served in Iraq and Afghanistan too.” I served over Iraq as part of Operation Northern Watch in 2000 and twice served in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
The video…
Man, what a screwup that was.
[ *** End of Update *** ]
* The Tribune completely ignored the uproar last week over the Department of Defense memo that expressed concerns about Congressman Mark Kirk’s partisan political activities during two tours of active duty. Instead, the paper assigned two reporters to work on a story about semantics…
When Republican Senate candidate Mark Kirk says he repeatedly deployed to Afghanistan with the Navy, he’s referring to two-week training missions as part of his annual reservist requirements.
After acknowledging a series of misstatements that embellished his Navy service, Kirk is being challenged over his use of the military term “deployment,” and this could be yet another opportunity for critics to parse his words in what has recently become a resume-bashing battle with Democratic Senate opponent Alexi Giannoulias.
Deployment can mean more than one thing in the military, but it is often used to describe service members going off to war for an extended time.
From the Department of Defense’s Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms…
deployment
(DOD) 1. In naval usage, the change from a cruising approach or contact disposition to a disposition for battle.
(DOD) 2. The movement of forces within operational areas.
(DOD) 3. The positioning of forces into a formation for battle.
(DOD) 4. The relocation of forces and materiel to desired operational areas. Deployment encompasses all activities from origin or home station through destination, specifically including intra-continental United States, intertheater, and intratheater movement legs, staging, and holding areas. See also deployment order; deployment planning; prepare to deploy order.
Item “4″ appears to support Kirk’s claim that he used the proper term. The Kirk campaign reportedly sent that definition to the Tribune, but it’s not mentioned anywhere in the article.
* Speaking of semantics…
U.S. Rep. Phil Hare’s use of the word “veteran” to describe his military service has angered some local military veterans who say he’s improperly taking on the title.
However, a survey of advocacy groups, lawyers and government officials shows that there’s no standard definition of the word.
In fact, while Hare’s service doesn’t appear to meet the basic legal definition of “veteran” used by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for the purpose of receiving benefits, some of the largest veterans organizations in the country say he’s properly using the word when referring to his own service.
Hare served in the Army Reserves during the Vietnam War. He was recently confronted by two supporters of his Republican opponent Bobby Schilling who said he shouldn’t be using that term in one portion of his biography. Schilling at one point claimed on his website that Hare “presumably” joined the reserves to get out of serving in battle, but Hare objected and the passage was removed.
Mark Kirk claims that he is a “21-year Navy veteran” on his own website. But despite the fact that Kirk actually serves in the Naval Reserves, nobody has challenged him on that topic.
* Kirk, by the way, showed his foreign policy chops in a Sun-Times article…
The wars between Mexico’s drug cartels are closer than you think, Senate candidate Mark Kirk says.
“The West Coast [of Mexico] Sinaloa Cartel has been attacking the East Coast Juarez Cartel. We should feel somewhat concerned about this because the Juarez Cartel is our guys — they control the drug trade in Chicago,” Kirk says, only half-joking, to audiences on the campaign trail.
Alexi Giannoulias’ prescription for solving the drug problem was the same old, same old…
“The U.S. must do more to curtail the growing threat posed by Mexican drug cartels. I have recommended a two-pronged approach. First, we must embrace a policy that not only strengthens our borders, but also reduces American demand for these drugs through prevention and treatment. Second, we must strengthen our gun control enforcement to ensure that American weapons don’t get into the hands of Mexican criminals. Ninety percent of assault weapons in the hands of drug traffickers in Mexico come from the U.S. Just as Mexico must help to stop the flow of drugs from south to north, we must curb gun flows from north to south.”
Legalization would wipe out the cartels, but nobody ever wants to mention that.
* Related…
* Why lie? Military phonies on the increase, watchdogs say
* Treasurer extends benefits to gay, lesbian employees
* Giannoulias to amend policy on domestic partners
* Giannoulias approves benefits for domestic partners
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Morning Shorts
Monday, Jun 14, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The hired guns of Illinois’ governmental bodies
The highest-paid elected-official-turned-lobbyist, according to the Sun-Times/BGA survey, is Lipinski, who as a congressman was the powerful longtime chairman of the House Transportation Committee. He has lucrative contracts with the CTA and Metra.
* Hired guns: Lobbyists for Illinois governmental bodies
* At times, city even lobbies the city
* Washington firm reaps millions lobbying for Metra, sewage district
The Carmen Group has made millions representing Metra and the water reclamation district — two of Chicago’s largest government agencies — for more than 25 years.
The water reclamation district — Cook County’s sewage-treatment agency — pays the firm as much as $645 an hour, under a $657,000 no-bid contract, to help it obtain continuing federal funding for the ongoing Deep Tunnel flood-control project.
And Metra, the city and suburban commuter rail agency, paid the Carmen Group $712,500 last year. That was under a contract that was renegotiated three months ago, cutting the lobbying tab to $500,000 this year.
* Illinois historic site could become national park
U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock of Peoria has introduced legislation for a study on a Pike County site that was the first town planned and founded by an African-American. U.S. Sen. Roland Burris proposed similar legislation earlier this year.
* Illinois now taking some campground reservations online
* Privatize Public Transit?
* Tribune’s $43M executive bonus plan lambasted by trustee
* RR Star: Tollway needs to fix roads, agency’s credibility
* Mayor Daley runs up big debts building his global city; what about the rest of Chicago?
As Mr. Daley, 68, prepares a presumed run for an unprecedented seventh term, economic data examined by Crain’s show his success over the past 21 years in remaking Chicago’s business center and nearby neighborhoods into a “global city,” where incomes and education levels are high and amenities are world-class.
But big parts of Chicago have been left behind.
And the city is stuck with the debts Mr. Daley has piled up on infrastructure-rebuilding and gentrification, including the cost of projects such as the Olympics bid, Millennium Park, theater districts, median planters — not to mention underfinanced city pensions and the tax-increment financing subsidies doled out to downtown developers.
…
Bonded debt and long-term leases have risen much faster than the city’s property-tax base under Mr. Daley and now amount to about $5,600 for each Chicagoan. Then there’s billions in unfunded pension liabilities — another $5,000 per Chicagoan — and one of the deepest municipal budget holes in the country.
* Chicago Teachers Union gets new leadership
* CPS To Borrow $800M, Boost Teacher Pay By 4%
CPS revealed its latest plans on how to confront its record deficit within hours of teachers concluding their vote on whether Chicago Teachers Union President Marilyn Stewart or challenger Karen Lewis, a King College Prep teacher, should lead them through tough times ahead. Election results are expected early today.
* Marin: It’s summertime, but the living ain’t easy
* Witness expected to say he saw Burge smother suspect
* City’s hookah bars under fire
* Aldermen want to dispose of suburbanite recycling in city
* Tribune: Big-foot backlash
* County to make pitch to Navistar
The draw? The former Motorola building in Harvard, now known as the Midwest Corporate Campus. Officials from the city of Harvard, the McHenry County Economic Development Corp., the County Board, and state and federal lawmakers have collaborated to pitch the 1.6 million-square-foot facility as the new corporate headquarters for Navistar.
* SouthtownStar: Oak Lawn fees demonstrate a bigger problem
* Waste: Unwanted sludge-treatment plant may cost taxpayers $217 million
* Former prosecutor to represent Kane in fight against coroner’s legal bills
* Streator roads clear after tornado
* Will Peoria catch the next train?
Existing service in Bloomington-Normal is just one of the factors that could influence the possibility of Peoria rail service. Others include the fact that Illinois recently received over $1 billion in federal funds to upgrade Amtrak service between Chicago and St. Louis and that other Illinois communities - most recently the Quad Cities - are already on track to restore rail service.
…
Rail service, of course, is something that used to work in Peoria, once the fourth largest regional hub in the country. Peoria used to be served by 15 different passenger railroads that accounted for 70,000 miles of track. But the city has been off-track since 1981, after Amtrak’s short-lived Prairie Marksman experiment failed to deliver passengers on service between East Peoria and Chicago.
* West Nile virus in Tazewell County
* Judge rules DeWitt County has been collecting too much tax money
A judge ruled Thursday that DeWitt County has too much money on hand and had levied some property taxes improperly, and county officials are trying to figure out how that will affect pending tax bills.
In a lawsuit filed by a citizens group challenging the county’s tax practices, Douglas County Judge Michael Carroll ruled that the county violated a 1969 Illinois Supreme Court ruling that prohibited counties from holding excessive reserves without plans for spending the money.
* SJ-R: FOIA not that complicated
* Interested in being on the editorial board?
The six-month terms of The State Journal-Register editorial board’s three community guest members are about to expire. This week we will begin the process of naming their successors.
* Milton proposes more school district cuts
* Cape Girardeau may get casino
Southern Illinois officials claim a possible Cape Girardeau casino could have an impact on the region’s sole casino, Harrah’s Metropolis Hotel and Casino.
“It’s pretty darn close from what I’ve been reading about the location. It will definitely draw other communities,” said Metropolis Mayor Billy McDaniel.
* Patti Derge Simon sendoff is June 24
* Edna Stewart, 1938-2010
Edna Stewart’s legendary soul food restaurant on Chicago’s West Side served as a meeting place for leaders of the civil rights movement during the 1960s.
Among her patrons were the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and an aide, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who came to eat for free while they organized for equal rights. King and his colleagues also held meetings in the eatery to launch a campaign to end housing discrimination.
* Edna, Chicago’s Soul Food Queen, Dies
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