The surprisingly early end to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s corruption trial is “bleeping golden” news to Illinois Democrats — and even some national Democrats — who dreaded the prospect of a verdict coming just before Election Day, Nov. 2.
“Democrats should be cheering and partying in the streets about the fact that the trial is over,” said Democratic consultant Kitty Kurth. “I know my friends on the Republican side will still have plenty of things they’ll be criticizing Democrats about, but this will give them one less piece of ammunition.
“The Republicans will still talk about the trial, but at least it won’t be in the newspapers and on the radio and on people’s television every night.”
This will all be back “on the air” when Republicans start running advertisements. And that’s what people see and remember the most anyway.
Gov. Pat Quinn flew to southern Illinois on the state plane Monday where he attended two campaign-related events, threw out the first pitch at a minor-league baseball game and toured a construction project at Southern Illinois University.
A campaign spokeswoman insisted Tuesday that the governor was not using state resources for political gain when he made the two campaign-related stops.
“Bottom line, he was there as the governor of the state for an event at SIU and to throw out the first pitch at the baseball game,” campaign spokeswoman Mica Matsoff said. “While in town, he stopped by two additional events with various constituents, including colleagues, party folks and supporters.”
“He most certainly did not use the state plane for any political purpose,” Matsoff said.
Castle and Kirk, for example, were helpful allies to Democrats after they captured control of the House in 2006.
They both voted for several proposals of the legislative agenda Democrats campaigned on to oust Republicans from power. In January of 2007, they voted to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission; to increase the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour; and to repeal tax cuts to oil companies and mandate they pay fees for removing oil from the Gulf of Mexico.
They also voted in 2007 for a measure opposing President George W. Bush’s plan to increase troops in Iraq, and sponsored a $35 billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Senate Republicans, weary of life in the minority, are too excited about Castle, Kirk and other centrists winning Democratic seats to quibble about their records. Republicans would need to win 10 seats in order to capture the majority.
On the other hand, why are you making such a big deal out of your partisan, conservative bona fides when bipartisan moderation could woo some more votes? Or am I wrong? I’d like to know.
An alliance of social-services providers has just received and passed on to me results of a Freedom of Information Act request it submitted to Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes’ office.
The list details who’s owed what. In particular, down to the cent, the data being released by Illinois Partners for Human Services lists $490,314,860.75 owed to tax-exempt, non-profit organizations —many of them certified charities that lead a precarious life in the best of times.
A stunning 136 groups are owed at least $1 million each, with the outstanding IOUs stretching back as far as December 2009, according to the comptroller’s office.
Far be it from me to discourage your use of a subscriber firewall, but I think you’re missing the point. You’ve got this new thing called “First in Print,” where you don’t publish some stories online. Some of those stories are kind of interesting to me. Recently you teased us with this on the front page of your site…
The building that houses Norb Andy’s Tabarin on Capitol Avenue has been sold—again. Read more about the new owners in a story only available in today’s print edition of The State Journal-Register.
OK, that’s an establishment where I sometimes find myself, so I was interested in seeing who the new building owners were. But here’s what I saw when I clicked on the link that took me to the “First in Print” page…
The building that houses Norb Andy’s Tabarin on Capitol Avenue has been sold—again.
The recent purchase by David Ridenour, who with David Schmitz also runs the Rippon Kinsella House bed-and-breakfast, 1317 N. Third St., marks the fourth time since 1991 that the Hickox Building, which contains Norb Andy’s, has been sold, according to Sangamon County property records. This time, the sellers took a loss.
That’s all I really wanted to know. Thanks much for the freebie.
Remember, a little less info when you’re trying to upsell. Just sayin’.
In a courtroom with fewer than 20 friends and family, attorneys Tuesday closed out, for the second time, the case against former Chicago Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez and city worker Aaron DelValle. Jurors will begin their deliberations Wednesday following the two-week trial, the second time Sanchez and DelValle have been tried on charges they helped organize patronage hiring of members of the politically powerful Hispanic Democratic Organization.
From the US Attorney at 3:11 this afternoon…
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie Porter and Manish Shah will be available at 3:30 p.m. today in the Dirksen Courthouse lobby to comment on the guilty verdicts just returned against retired Chicago Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez and co-defendant Aaron DelValle.
* From Republican secretary of state nominee Robert Enriquez’s semi-annual campaign finance report…
Funds available at the beginning of the reporting period $3,151.69
Total Receipts $11,235.31
Subtotal $14,387.00
Total Expenditures $11,122.99
Funds available at the close of the reporting period $3,264.01
President Michael Hogan’s new executive assistant will earn $195,000. A former assistant provost, she could also serve as a sociology professor here.
Lisa Troyer of the University of Connecticut will start July 26, though she has been serving on an interim basis since July 2.
She was not available for comment Tuesday.
A predecessor, Kathleen Metz, earned $107,500 in 2009-10 as executive assistant to B. Joseph White.
The UI’s chief spokesman, Tom Hardy, said comparing the salaries was a matter of “apple and oranges” since Metz, who has retired, was a civil service employee, and Troyer has been a professor and administrator.
Not to mix “apple and oranges,” but that’s more than the governor makes.
* Meanwhile, some commenterspointed this fact out when the governor issued his 24 furlough days order…
When Gov. Pat Quinn’s office issued an administrative order last week requiring non-union state workers to take 24 furlough days this fiscal year, the declaration said the resulting pay reduction would not affect pensions.
On Tuesday, the administration acknowledged that the additional furlough days will affect pensions and that it is working to alleviate the impact.
Employees will be happy to hear that the governor is working on legislation to address this, but fiscal conservatives might be aghast…
Kraft said the governor wants to find some mechanism where furloughs will not affect pensions, including legislation if necessary.
And state Rep. Raymond Poe and Sen. Larry Bomke only recently discovered that the bill they passed this year to allow workers to make their own pension payments for furlough days has been interpreted to mean a potentially gigantic interest bill…
Poe and Bomke said they only recently learned that SERS is also charging employees interest on the amount, 8.5 percent calculated from the time they joined the system.
* The Scott Lee Cohen “listening tour” stopped in Streator yesterday. And Cohen met with the town’s mayor, Jimmie Lansford…
Cohen denied accusations he failed to pay child support, abused his ex-wife and held a knife to his girlfriend’s throat.
“Those are half-truths and lies,”Cohen told The Times. “Anybody who’s gone through a messy divorce knows how things get said and blown out of context. The truth is, I never did anything wrong.” […]
Lansford told Cohen about a program at Illinois Valley Community College educating students in wind farm maintenance. He also mentioned the truck driving program at IVCC.
“I dig that,” said Cohen, who wants to plan a trip to IVCC. “We should be putting more focus on improving the manufacturing in our communities and giving them the technological skills to succeed.”
He never did anything wrong? I thought he was trying to be upfront about his past. Now he’s Mr. Clean?
* Meanwhile, Cohen reported loaning his campaign about $600,000 since the February primary and spent about $425K. Some of that was on bills for his lt. governor primary campaign, but much of it appeared to be directed towards launching his governor’s bid. Cohen reported just $114,000 on hand, but it’s likely he has more where that came from.
Also, Cohen reported raising just $130 from individual contributors. Not $130K. $130.
* 12:07 pm - OK, here we go. Rod Blagojevich speaks to reporters. Click here for NBC5’s live video. Or, you can click here for CBS2’s live feed. Help us out by live-blogging in comments. Thanks.
* Blagojevich said he wanted to testify, but relied on Sam Adam, Sr.’s advice that he shouldn’t.
“The government in my case proved my innocence.”
“Perhaps, maybe the biggest lesson that I learned is that I talk to much.” And with that, he walked away.
* Sam Adam, Sr. is now talking to the press. He said he raised his son to disagree with him on everything.
“What happened to Rezko?” … “They said constantly that they were going to call all these witnesses for four months.” … “Why aren’t you [in the media] on that case? They’re the ones who failed to prove their case here.” … “The simple answer is we were prepared to testify when they brought these people [Rezko, Levine, etc.] on. They never brought them on.” … “We’re playing our own game… which is let them prove their case.” … “Listen, we don’t have an obligation to put on a defense here.”
* Sam Adam, Jr: “Did I believe at the time when I said that, that he was going to testify? Yes, I did… We are not in the business here of pleasing people.” … “I spent, and I’m not joking with you guys, 150 hours, 200 hours going over tapes with him… He’s prepared to testify. It simply came down to an argument between an old bull and a young toad… [Putting Blagojevich on the stand] makes it seem as if the government is right.”
* Sam Adam, Sr. guesses 8-5 that Blagojevich walks. He then backs off that and says 100 percent.
* Sr: “I’ve heard every tape. They played their best [ones]. Don’t [say] that they had tapes that they hid.”
* End. Thoughts?
*** UPDATE 1 *** If you missed it earlier, here’s Rod Blagojevich talking to the media…
A Wall Street Journal reporter was handcuffed in the lobby of the courthouse just a few minutes ago.
“Interviewing an attorney,” reporter Doug Belkin said, handcuffed in the elevator with several court security officers. It’s against courthouse rules to do interviews outside a designated press area.
The security officers escorted the reporter up to lock-up.
“I told him three times to back up and he didn’t. He put his hands on me,” the security officer said.
* After the Tribune released its polling showing that only 31 percent would like to see him reelected, Mayor Daley tried to brush off the results…
“Everybody’s worried about polls in the United States, and all politicians worry about polls — they should worry about their actions,” he said, speaking at a march against violence in Woodlawn. “I do this six days a week — I’m passionate about it — you have to be passionate about your job, and there’s ups and downs.”
Yes, “everybody’s worried about polls” including Daley. I checked hizzoner’s recent campaign disclosure reports and found that he has spent $308,000 since June of last year on his pollster, Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research Inc.
Daley’s campaign cut a $63,000 check to his pollster on March 5th, then another $91,692.33 check on April 2nd. Maybe he didn’t get the results he wanted the first time around.
Last August 19th, the campaign paid its pollster $91,250.24. On June 26th of last year, Daley spent $63,000.00 on the pollster.
That far from an election, politicians will use polling and focus groups to hone their messages. Obviously, it isn’t working. Then again, considering the city’s multitude of problems, mere pollster-inspired spin isn’t quite enough to do the trick.
The only way to know if he is or isn’t, is to know one of three people: the mayor himself, his wife Maggie or his brother Bill, who is the only person in politics who is in on every move the mayor makes.
Bill’s been saying in public that he doesn’t know what his brother’s planning to do. In private, he’s been saying the mayor intends not to run again - because he wants more time to spend with Maggie, and the job isn’t fun anymore.
Not enough money in the budget, and too much hostility in the press.
Bill Daley saying that Rich Daley is thinking ‘no’ is a big shift in the gusty winds of Chicago politics, and a big story to begin to tell.
Frank Kruesi, one of Mayor Richard Daley’s longest-serving advisors, has resigned as Chicago’s top lobbyist in Washington, D.C.
The former president of the Chicago Transit Authority, who served as assistant secretary of policy at the Department of Transportation during the Clinton administration, has been a key adviser to the mayor over most of the last three decades, starting when Mr. Daley was Cook County state’s attorney.
Kruesi confirmed his resignation, saying he’s leaving at the end of the month.
* Campaign roundup…
* Campaign cash reports rolling in: Senate Majority Leader John Cullerton (D-Chicago) reported having $3.5 million in his Senate Democratic Victory Fund to help candidates around the state. Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) reported her campaign fund has $709,000 in cash after raising $229,000 in the first six months. House Speaker Michael Madigan’s own campaign warchest, Friends of Michael Madigan, collected $788,587, spent $609,071 and had $1,968,238 in the kitty on June 30. The Democratic Party of Illinois, which the Chicago Democrat chairs, collected $149,128, spent $179,618 and had nearly $1.5 million on hand.
Rod Blagojevich’s attorneys will rest their case today without calling a single witness to the stand, according to Robert Blagojevich’s attorney Michael Ettinger. In addition, the defense has asked Judge James Zagel to wait until Monday for closing arguments.
Walking into the Dirksen Federal Building Wednesday morning, Blagojevich attorneys Sam Adam Sr. and Sam Adam Jr. said they would make a statement after speaking with the judge.
The trial of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich appears to be coming to a sudden and unexpected end, as defense attorneys indicated before court began Wednesday that Blagojevich would not be taking the stand, despite repeated promises over the past 19 months that he would.
Blagojevich attorney Sam Adam Jr. told reporters on his way to the courtroom that they would make an official decision once the trial resumed and that the governor would then come down and make a statement.
That would indicated that the former governor would not be testifying and that his defense team would rest its case without calling any witnesses.
Man, I hope somebody has live video of that.
*** UPDATE 3 - 9:28 am *** CBS2 will have live video of the Blagojevich availability I’m told. I’ll let you know what’s going on. Meanwhile, Sun-Times…
It looks like former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich hasn’t changed his mind about not testifying in his own defense against corruption charges, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times this morning.
*** UPDATE 4 - 9:35 am *** Rich Samuels makes a good point on his Twitter page…
Remember at George Ryan’s indictment Dan Webb telling us the ex-Gov would take the stand at trial. Didn’t happen, of course
*** UPDATE 5 - 9:41 am *** I’m pretty sure the live CBS2 video of the press conference will be at this link. I’ll let you know when it starts.
*** UPDATE 6 - 9:48 am *** Strike that. You’ll be clicking here for the live CBS2 feed instead.
*** UPDATE 7 - 9:56 am *** A little courtroom color from the Sun-Times…
At 9:40, the media is still cordoned off from entering the courtroom — but the tension is already palpable. One reporter is sweating profusely, wiping sweat with a napkin. Another spoke of feeling unnerved.
A security officer just announced that whoever doesn’t have a ticket should go to the overflow room on the 14th floor now, because there will be no room.
The overflow room is crowded, too. The usually-empty benches for the public are filled with people, and new media faces are vying for precious seats at the tables. Even the jury box is full of spectators.
*** UPDATE 8 - 9:59 am *** Interesting blog post by WBEZ’s reporter…
This is not a “prosecution hasn’t proved anything” defense. This is a strategic move to limit the damages. The prosecution had these two witnesses listed at the beginning of the trial: Tony Rezko and Stuart Levine. The prosecution chose not to put them up in their part of the case because they were waiting for the former governor to take the stand, spew long-winded and loose and then surprise/shock the world by bringing these men up to counter. So Blagojevich would say he never did anything wrong and then bam, two convicted businessmen would take the stand and debunk everything the gov said. The problem? The prosecution showed their hand. And the defense knew what was coming, so they called.
In my eyes, this is in-trial plea bargaining. The defense realizes that the big charges won’t stick and it is not worth the risk of the jury getting a whiff of Rezko and Levine. So they are settling in-court. Now maybe the prosecution didn’t do a good job of presenting their case. But really, this is about what they didn’t present. Two guys, two people with intimate knowledge that the jury would potentially use to make up their mind. The defense can’t take that chance.
Essentially, the Blagojevich defense is content on being convicted. They are hedging their bets that it will be for something small and hope to dodge the Rezko bullet which might have been the kill shot.
Thoughts?
*** UPDATE 9 - 10:04 am *** NBC5 has its live camera up and running. Click here.
Finally, just before 10:00 — a half-hour later than usual — spectators have been let into the courtroom.
*** UPDATE 11 - 10:13 am *** NBC5 reports that the defense has just rested. “The case is over.” There will be no testimony by Rod Blagojevich.
*** UPDATE 12 - 10:18 am *** Via NBC5, the prosecution is introducing a new phone call recording as a rebuttal, so there won’t be a Blagojevich media avail for a bit yet.
*** UPDATE 13 - 10:28 am *** The jurors are filing out.
*** UPDATE 14 - 10:34 am *** The judge said the proceedings will resume Monday at 9:30. From NBC5…
Rod Blagojevich stands before judge. Zagel: “Is it your personal decision not to testify?” Rod: “Yes”
The government calls one rebuttal witness for Robert Blagojevich, FBI agent Dan Cain, and played a couple recordings. The defense objected to the tapes, but the judge overruled.
One is a call from Dec. 5, 2008 at 8:02 a.m. in which Robert Blagojevich tells a Friends of Blagojevich assistant he doesn’t want to talk on the phone.
“I’d rather do it on the cell, where no one can hear us,” she says.
Zagel asked if any of the attorneys had started to draft instructions for the jury on how to deliberate each charge. The prosecution spoke with Zagel about instructions on forfeiture charges.
Sorosky asked the judge for the prosecution to submit its version of instructions later Wednesday. The defense would look at it Thursday and possibly hold an instruction conference on Friday morning. Zagel scheduled it for Friday at 9 a.m.
Zagel also set a hearing for Thursday morning regarding the release of juror’s names based on a motion filed by several print media outlets, so it is heard before the issue possibly becomes moot.
Zagel said he’ll hear arguments for motions for judgment Wednesday afternoon and recessed court until 1:30 p.m
*** UPDATE 22 - 11:49 am *** Everybody’s still waiting…
The press pit in the lobby of the Dirksen Federal Building is packed to the gills as reporters wait for Rod Blagojevich and his team of lawyers to exit the building. We’ve been told they plan to talk.
Word is the team is now hunkered down in a conference room upstairs, possibly strategizing about what to say to the media. It’s hard to get definite word, though — court personnel has banned everyone from the courtroom area.
In the meantime, court security officers have had to bring out ropes to hold back the restless crowd of reporters and cameramen. It’s the first time that’s happened this entire trial. A mic stand is nearly toppling over with microphones.
Ultimately, sources tell the Sun-Times that on Monday night, the attorneys and the former governor agreed that Blagojevich couldn’t withstand what promised to be a stinging cross examination. They were also concerned because during preparation he was reluctant to admit he made mistakes and couldn’t keep his answers brief.
Also factoring into the calculation: there was some concern that Tony Rezko might be called as a rebuttal witness by the prosecution if Blagojevich took the stand.
Sorosky conceded that without Blagojevich on the stand it closed the door to calling any rebuttal witness — Rezko or otherwise.
The challenge now left for the defense: Sam Adam Jr. told jurors in his opening statement they would hear from Rod Blagojevich. Judge James Zagel will tell jurors they aren’t allowed to hold the decision not to testify against a defendant.
I’ll be clicking this link over and over again. I’m kinda amazed that they don’t have Google ads on their posts. I know the Blago Blog is getting plenty of traffic during this ordeal.
After the news about Wyma [cooperating with the feds and helping them plant bugs] came out, Robert testifies, someone on the governor’s team had the Illinois State Police sweep the Friends of Blagojevich office for bugs on Dec. 8, 2008 — but Robert said he wasn’t concerned.
“Having the place swept for wires and bugs didn’t matter to me. We were doing nothing improper,” Robert testifies. “I never directed it. if Rod did, I’m not aware of it.”
Robert testifies that the order came from Chrissy Jacobs, a “politically connected” administrative assistant who was “very concerned about eavesdropping” and “a very excitable personality.”
The fact that the FOB offices may have been swept for bugs is a new revelation. Ultimately it did no good, or came too late — the FBI had bugs up already in the office, in addition to tapping numerous phone lines. And the governor was arrested the next day.
Also, this wasn’t the first time that an Illinois governor had used state police to try to combat federal investigators. A top aide to now-imprisoned Gov. George Ryan had state troopers do an illegal sweep of that governor’s Rosemont campaign office during his investigation in fall 1994.
* Roundup…
* Rod Blagojevich’s quotes about planning to testify: “Let me tell you what I’m not going to do. I’m not going to do what my accusers and political enemies have been doing, and that is talk about this case in 30-second sound bites on “Meet the Press” or on the TV news. Now, I’m dying to answer these charges. I am dying to show you how innocent I am. And I want to assure everyone who’s here and everyone who’s listening that I intend to answer every allegation that comes my way. However, I intend to answer them in the appropriate forum — in a court of law.” — Dec. 19, 2008, news conference.
* No Blago No Plea: As far as the rumor that Blagojevich was ready to take a plea deal, the source called that, “the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
As of Dec. 31, the city had just $180 million left from the $1.15 billion parking meter windfall that was supposed to last for 75 years. There was $550 million remaining from the $1.83 billion deal that privatized the Skyway for 99 years.[…]
Daley is not expected to raid the the $500 million long-term reserve fund generated by the Skyway windfall, because doing so could threaten the bond rating that determines city borrowing costs.
In a May 11 report that reaffirmed Chicago’s AA minus rating, Standard & Poor’s wrote, “The stable outlook reflects our expectation that [the city] will, with the help of careful budgeting, improve its financial operations and not draw on its long-term reserves.”
Total crime dropped 3.9 percent while violent crimes – which includes criminal sexual assaults, robberies, aggravated assaults and aggravated batteries — saw a 10.6 percent drop, according to a police release.
The telephone poll of 800 male and female heads of household from the six-county Chicago area began July 8, one day after Chicago police Officer Thor Soderberg was gunned down in Englewood.
Upcoming school year entry-level admissions to nine college prep high schools that admit students based on tests and grades, and to the dozens of magnet schools that admit by lottery, remained at last year’s 77 percent minority student ratio, the preliminary data shows.
Notable blips across the board are an increase in the Hispanic student enrollment at these schools, and a corresponding decrease in both the African-American and Asian student enrollments, however. And maintenance of the African-American student ratio hinged on the opening of 100 college prep seats, outside the process, to students at CPS’ lowest performing schools. Those seats, at Jones, Northside, Walter Payton and Whitney Young, were awarded under the No Child Left Behind Act.
A few months ago, NBC5 producer Don Moseley and I decided to revisit that documentary we had done two decades ago. In the wake of the shooting crisis gripping Chicago’s West and South Sides, we felt we needed context and a longer lens.
We went looking for Boo to see what had become of his dreams and his life. We talked to former residents of the now-demolished Henry Horner Homes, some of whom keep up with each other. But no one could tell us about Boo and his family.[…]
On the frozen January morning in 2009 that Barack Obama, of Chicago, became president of the United States, Alonzo “Boo” Campbell was sentenced to 28 years in prison for first-degree murder as an armed habitual criminal.
It was not immediately clear when Black would be released from the federal prison in Florida. The conditions of his release would be determined by a U.S. District Court judge in Chicago, according to an order from the three-judge panel.
Drivers could see summer road work pushed into late fall, IDOT spokesman Josh Kauffman said, adding he couldn’t provide specifics until the agreement is ratified.
“Each project will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis,” Kauffman said Tuesday. “The strike has not cost the state any money at this time. We’re optimistic the settlement will be finalized so construction can resume and we can put people back to work.”
Work at Memorial resumed Tuesday morning after the unions reached a tentative deal with a major contractor association Monday night.
Still, the strike caused too much of a setback for the project to be completed by its original deadline of Aug. 25. District officials say the completion date has now been moved back to November, and they hope to bring students back to Memorial in early January.
Northwest Central Dispatch System is the biggest single dispatcher of police and fire in the Northwest suburbs, covering Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village, Hoffman Estates, Mount Prospect, Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg and Streamwood, as well as the Inverness Police Department, Palatine Rural Fire Protection District and Prospect Heights police.
The two sides have met once or twice a month since September 2009, as they negotiate the group’s first-ever collective bargaining agreement.
There is no deadline for when a contract must be signed, said Cindy Barbera-Brelle, the executive director of the dispatch system.
For years, each of the city’s 10 ward aldermen received $580,000 in discretionary funds to be used within their wards. The money, which was drawn from the gaming tax fund, was mainly intended for neighborhood street repair, but there were no restrictions on it, and some aldermen used it for other projects aimed at improving quality of life.
But with gaming tax revenue dropping, the City Council agreed to a compromise last year. The plan, developed by far East Side Aldermen Lynda Elmore, Leroy Keith and Rick Mervine, cut ward funds down to $75,000 each, with $50,000 of that reserved for capital projects like sidewalks and streets.
The county board’s Executive Committee unanimously decided Tuesday to recommend putting the issue to a public vote in the Nov. 2 general election. Board members plan to discuss the wording of the referendum question at an Aug. 4 committee of the whole meeting.
The layoff was called an economic move by those supporting it, a start toward balancing a budget that could be $500,000 to $600,000 in deficit by the end of the 2010 fiscal year, and is projected to be $2.8 million in the red by the end of the 2011 fiscal year.
The city of Sullivan was still cleaning up Tuesday after being slammed by a ferocious summer storm that ripped off roofs, snapped trees, cut power and sent bricks and debris cascading into the town square.
The storm hit about 1:30 p.m. Monday, packing winds that some locals estimated at 60 to 80 mph amid a cloudburst that dumped more than 3 inches of rain on damaged buildings suddenly exposed to the sky.
* It’s now 9:08 pm. Your website hasn’t updated since 8:09 pm. It’s filing deadline day and yet we have no updates for an hour? And there’s no way to reach anyone after normal business hours?
What the heck gives, man? Some of us have work we’d like to finish here.
*** UPDATE 1 *** The rant must’ve worked. Thanks. Back to work I go.
*** UPDATE 2 *** It’s stuck again. Sheesh.
*** UPDATE 3 *** And, we’re back. Good. Hope I don’t jinx it again.
*** UPDATE 4 *** If any Senate Republicans are still awake out there, could you get Sam McCann to file his D-2 please? It’s after the midnight deadline and he’s the lone holdout.
*** UPDATE 5 *** And he’s filed. Thanks.
*** UPDATE 6 *** I’m not doing statewide candidates in the Fax tomorrow, but I just noticed that Rep. David Miller hasn’t filed his D-2 yet for the comptroller’s race. You’d think a comptroller candidate would file financial paperwork on time. It’s now 12:25 AM and no report from Miller.
*** UPDATE 7 *** Rep. Miller just filed. An hour late. Not great, either…
Funds available at the beginning of the reporting period $388,768.93
Total Receipts $479,948.28
Subtotal $868,717.21
Total Expenditures $709,725.00
Funds available at the close of the reporting period $158,992.21
The judge hearing the Rod Blagojevich corruption case has abruptly adjourned court for the day, without explanation.
Sources told the Chicago Sun-Times that Blagojevich is unlikely to take the stand and that his lawyers will likely rest without calling a single witness.
The former governor had been expected to testify in his own defense starting this afternoon but did not take the stand.
Earlier today, during a lunchtime break in the trial, Blagojevich’s lead attorney, Sam Adam Jr., wouldn’t say whether Blagojevich would testify.
And Adam’s father and co-counsel, Sam Adam Sr., said only: “Nothing is a certainty.”
Asked this afternoon whether he would testify, Rod Blagojevich wouldn'’t answer. […]
But then they watched Monday and today as prosecutors cross-examined his brother and codefendant, Robert Blagojevich — the somber businessman with a background in the military, who’s accused of far less criminal conduct than Rod Blagojevich.
In just the first 10 minutes of cross-examination Monday, Robert Blagojevich, who had overseen the Friends of Blagojevich campaign fund, found himself contradicting his own statements and having to explain a secretly recorded and previously unheard conversation in which he’d urged his brother to do some “horse trading” with then-President-elect Obama in an effort to kill the then-ongoing criminal investigation of the Blagojevich administration.
Eric Zorn has predicted for weeks that the former governor wouldn’t testify.
Attorneys for Rod Blagojevich told the judge in his corruption trial this afternoon that the former governor will not testify in his own defense, sources said.
But after conferring with lawyers in a private sidebar, U.S. District Judge James Zagel told the defense team to mull the decision overnight, the sources said.
One day after a third Chicago police officer was gunned down after his shift, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn was in Chicago to sign the state’s newest get tough on guns law.
But it is not the weekend tragedy or the spike in violence in Chicago that is most significant about the law. The legislation that requires prison time for criminals caught with a gun is one of the few gun laws that passed the legislature with broad support. […]
Todd Vandermyde with the Illinois State Rifle Association said the new law deals with a topic that both gun supporters and opponents can agree on. Vandermyde says no one wants bad guys to be walking around with illegal weapons.
“If you don’t posses a FOID card and you’re prohibited from owning a firearm, those are the people we’ve always said should be punished.”
* Part of what made this announcement political is that Sen. Bill Brady missed the vote on the bill this year. From a Quinn campaign press release…
There is an epidemic of violence in our state. Our citizens and first responders are under assault from criminals using illegal weapons that have no place on our city streets. Just yesterday, another officer was shot and killed, the third such tragedy in two months.
At such an important time, Bill Brady didn’t think that increasing penalties for illegal gun possession mattered. He failed to appear to vote on this bill.
Our campaign has repeatedly pointed out that Bill Brady is outside the mainstream, more than any gubernatorial candidate in the history of our state. When it comes to guns, Brady isn’t a conservative; he’s an extremist.
And then they go on to list Brady’s gun votes…
For example, Brady opposes a ban on assault weapons. These are the same guns former Republican Governor Edgar called, “weapons of slaughter and destruction used by criminals” that had “no legitimate civilian purpose in a civilized society.”
These are Senator Bill Brady’s positions on weapons:
* Voted against safe storage of firearms to keep guns out of children’s reach [SB 117, 4/28/99; HB 156, 3/22/99];
* Would eliminate IDs for gun owners and destroy records of gun purchases [Chicago Tribune, 2/27/06];
* Voted against licensing gun dealers [HB 225, 3/22/99];
* Voted against penalties for ‘straw purchases’ of guns, one of the main ways illegal weapons make it onto our streets [HB 228, 3/22/99];
* Sponsored legislation to destroy records of gun purchases and eliminate waiting periods at gun shows [SB 57, 11/4/05];
* Voted against requiring gun license applicants to certify that they had not been convicted of domestic battery [HB 127, 5/31/97];
* Said he would veto legislation to ban semi-automatic weapons [Associated Press, 12/13/09].
* The Quinn campaign has now posted an Internet video blasting Brady’s gun stance. Watch it…
* Scott Lee Cohen actually got some local pols to sit down with him on the first leg of his “listening tour.” Yorkville’s mayor Valerie Burd and city administrator Bart Olson met with Cohen yesterday…
Cohen is now running against GOP nominee Bill Brady and incumbent Democrat Gov. Pat Quinn, although he was for a short while on the ticket with Quinn. He called Quinn “arrogant” and “incompetent” in dealing with the state’s financial crisis during his meeting with Yorkville officials.
Cohen made the comments after city officials said the biggest problem facing them at the moment is the state’s late disbursement of income and sales taxes. […]
Cohen said the General Assembly threw the financial system problem all to Quinn, and “that was the wrong person” to throw it to.
“Our fearless governor is cutting all this education funding,” he said. “I don’t believe education is the place to cut.”
Quinn will have to deal with this problem for the rest of the year unless a (not yet filed) lawsuit succeeds in knocking Cohen off the ballot. Cohen appears to be using most of his energy to blast the governor, who failed to show “proper respect” after the primary when word got out about Cohen’s past.
Notice also how the local paper tread ever so lightly on Cohen’s “issues”…
Cohen, who won the Democrat lieutenant governor’s primary race but resigned after disclosures of domestic violence incidents in court-filed divorce papers, is now running as an independent for governor.
Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn on Monday quietly signed a new law sponsored by his Republican rival and inspired by a controversy over the Quinn administration’s early release of prison inmates.
The new law, sponsored by Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, would require the Department of Corrections to post on the Internet photographs and other information about prisoners who are being released early. A key goal of the law is to give crime victims and communities a user-friendly and specific location to check on whether a perpetrator is getting out of prison ahead of schedule. […]
“We believe the governor should have signed this bill promptly instead of letting it sit on his desk for 60 days because of politics,” said Patty Schuh, Brady spokeswoman. “Gov. Quinn had a secret early release program that jeopardized the public safety of Illinois, and I suspect he continues to be embarrassed it.”
* Quinn has recently criticized Brady for not showing up to vote in the Senate, and those absences cost him with the Illinois Chamber’s latest ratings…
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce is out with its annual legislative ratings and — I know you’ll be shocked, shocked, shocked at this — every one of the winners is a Republican.
The most significant rating was for lawmakers who voted right 85% of the time or better over the past three General Assembly sessions. Twelve senators and 25 representatives — again, all Republicans — got the nod.
Interestingly, Sen. Bill Brady, the GOP nominee for governor, fell just short of that mark because he missed or failed to vote in favor of a measure revamping the state’s telecom law and failed to vote against a bill creating a legal cause of action for public employees subjected to an “abusive” work environment.
*** UPDATE *** Greg has deleted that last graf and rewritten it to read…
Notably included is Sen. Bill Brady, the GOP nominee for governor. He voted perfectly, the chamber said, except he missed or failed to vote in favor of a measure revamping the state’s telecom law and against a bill creating a legal cause of action for public employees subjected to an “abusive” work environment.
So, no issue there.
…Adding… From a press release…
Governor Pat Quinn today announced that construction will begin in early September on the Chicago to St. Louis high-speed rail route. An agreement between the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and Union Pacific Railroad will allow upgrades to be made on an initial 90-mile segment of Union Pacific track to prepare it for high-speed rail. The $98 million dollar project is funded through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and will support an estimated 900 jobs.
“Today’s announcement will create hundreds of jobs and is a major step towards making high-speed rail a reality in Illinois,” said Governor Quinn. “When the corridor is completed, travelers will be able to move from Chicago to St. Louis in under four hours, making Illinois the high-speed rail hub of the Midwest.”
Houlihan has long privately coveted the mayor’s office. But now, with the 2011 election looming, he was open about that prospect today.
He said the results of a Chicago Tribune / WGN poll, published Sunday, that found 53 percent of those surveyed don’t want Daley reelected “didn’t surprise me.”
Houlihan took note of “the focus on the parking meters, people being upset about that, referring to Daley’s having turned over parking meters to private business interests that raised the cost of parking at a meter.
* Related and a state roundup…
* Will Illinois miss the Tea Party revolution, too?
* IL-10: Fuzzy Math-News Claims Dold Bests Seals in Q2 Funding When the Opposite is True
Robert Blagojevich and prosecutor Chris Niewoehner are entrenched in a long back-and-forth over Robert’s phone records on Dec. 4, 2008, the day of a key phone call between Rod and Robert about the Senate seat appointment.
Niewoehner is going over a list of attempted phone calls in harrowing detail. He puts up a chart that Robert’s lawyer originally published that details all the calls made that day.
It’s a long list. Robert tried to reach his brother over and over again, to no avail, sometimes more than once per minute. When that didn’t work, he repeatedly tried to reach the governor’s scheduler.
Robert gets irritated at the questioning. “I concede,” he says repeatedly, as the prosecutor tries to get him to acknowledge each call one by one. “Let’s not waste time.”
Robert’s lawyers originally showed jurors the list to show that Robert was annoyed — and not thinking straight — at a Starbucks, when Rod finally reached him and told him to elevate Jesse Jackson Jr.
But prosecutors are trying to show that Robert was, in fact, actively trying to get a hold of the ex-governor that day — suggesting maybe he wasn’t as distracted as he said when the two had that critical conversation about Jackson.
* I’ve noticed that a lot of commenters have quite a bit of sympathy for Robert Blagojevich, with some even saying they think he’ll be acquitted. Mark Brown was one of those until cross-examination yesterday. Robert had said over and over that he did everything possible to keep fundraising and government apart. But the prosecution undercut his credibility in a big way yesterday…
And then it all blew up in Robert Blagojevich’s face in just the first 15 minutes of cross-examination by federal prosecutor Chris Niewoehner as the former chairman of Friends of Blagojevich was left trying to explain a previously unheard conversation in which he counseled brother Rod to conduct “horse trading” with then President-elect Barack Obama to kill the federal criminal investigation of his administration.
The Nov. 5, 2008, discussion came one day after the presidential election at a time the Blagojeviches already knew Obama wanted Valerie Jarrett as his replacement but a month before the governor’s arrest when the full extent of the investigation would become known.
“If you can get Obama to get [U.S. Attorney Patrick] Fitzgerald to close the investigation on you, it completely provides you with total clarity,” Robert Blagojevich was quoted as telling Rod in a transcript read by Niewoehner, suggesting this as a more realistic gambit than angling for a Cabinet appointment. […]
There was no crime committed in this discussion, which is why we hadn’t heard it previously, but the problem for Robert Blagojevich is that it blew a huge hole in his credibility.
One minute he’s testifying about how he’d taken pains to maintain a separation between fund-raising and official government action and fully appreciated the legal ramifications, and the next minute he’s defending the idea of political interference in a federal corruption probe.
* For Phil Kadner, the moment he believed that Robert lost credibility was during a conversation about appointing Jesse Jackson, Jr. to the US Senate…
Back to the offer of campaign cash for the appointment of Jesse Jackson Jr. to the Senate.
For hours, Robert Blagojevich tried to convince the jury that he was kept in the dark about the behind-the-scenes politics.
He said he made no offers of anything in return for contributions to “Friends of Blagojevich.” If deals were being cut, he was unaware of them.
And then Ettinger had him go through a crucial conversation with his brother that occurred over the phone while Robert was at a Starbucks with his wife.
It was one of the few times the couple had gone out together, and Robert explained he was quite irritated that his brother was bothering him with political talk.
“Right,” Robert said over and over again.
But then the governor says he may appoint Jackson to the Senate seat after all, to stick it to the folks in Washington, D.C., who have been sticking it to him. He tells his brother to talk to the people who offered money for the Jackson appointment.
They key word is “if” he appoints Jackson, Robert said, what would they be willing to do. Robert says he will phone them.
The governor says not to use the phone when doing so. The whole world may be listening, he warns. Talk to them in person.
What did this mean?
Robert seemed to take it to mean that personal contact was always better than a phone call. Nothing more than that.
I don’t know what the jury thought, but I thought Robert’s credibility vanished with that statement.
Paulie hated phones. He wouldn’t have one in his house. He got all his calls second hand. Then you’d have to call the people back. There were guys, that’s all they did all day, was take care of Paulie’s calls.
Robert Blagojevich testifies that when he asked Children’s Memorial Hospital CEO Patrick Magoon to host a fund-raiser in fall 2008, it was not in exchange for pending government action that would have increased reimbursement rate for the hospital.
Instead, Magoon was merely a name on a list of prior contributors that Robert Blagojevich was trying to hit up for campaign cash, he testifies.
Robert said he was given the list of names by his predecessor at Friends of Blagojevich, and it contained only donor names and phone numbers — no amounts.
“(Magoon), like many others, was a previous contributor,” Robert Blagojevich testifies. Magoon said on the stand last week that he had given several $1,000 contributions to the governor. “To me, they were all the same, just names and numbers of people to call who were previous contributors.”
“It wasn’t your practice to go through the list and find people who had given at most $1,000 and then go ask them to hold a $25,000 fund-raiser?” prosecutor Chris Niewoehner asks. “Because it wouldn’t make sense to suddenly ask people to give 25 times more than they’d given before, would it?”
Robert Blagojevich argues that asking someone to hold a fund-raiser is different than asking them directly for cash.
“I think that’s a real difference,” Robert testifies. “I didn’t ask him for a contribution, I asked him to host a fund-raiser. If he wanted to.”
* Blago Prosecution Fights for Jury Anonymity: The U.S. Attorney’s office also referenced instances of people with no ties to the trial attempting to involve themselves in it. The government noted one incident — which largely flew under the radar — involving a woman named Tynetta Muturi, who was arrested and charged with criminal contempt of court on June 23 after trying to enter the courtroom against deputy marshals’ orders. Muturi, who was sentenced to one year of probation, had previously filed documents seeking $10 billion and, according to the motion, “the release of certain files relating to an investigation into the theft and sale of her grandchildren, which documents were allegedly taken from defendant Rod Blagojevich’s office by the government in the course of its investigation of the charged offenses.”
* UIS student Sean Olsta created this mock campaign commercial for a class. His friends said he should forward it to me and I’m glad he did. It’s a hoot…
I hadn’t noticed it before, but Quinn actually does look like Fozzie Bear.
* My intern Barton Lorimor is back at SIU for the summer. Gov. Pat Quinn was down ‘yonder yesterday for a press conference and Barton started right off asking off-topic questions. Quinn had to actually beg for questions on the topic at hand. Way to go, Barton…
* The three-week construction strike that shut down projects all over Chicagoland is over. This was the final tipping point…
The deal comes the same day Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig wrote the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association saying the state may try to invoke no-strike requirements in the future, could possibly rebid contracts and would not extend deadlines for financial incentives.
Hannig warned the contractors that he was keeping the clock running on the projects regardless of the strikes, which would’ve wiped out any early completion bonuses the contractors could’ve earned. He also threatened to rebid contracts if the strike wasn’t settled soon. The unions said they were prepared to bring in replacement contractors and IDOT was prepared to impose Project Labor Agreements to make sure the work restarted, with or without the current contractors. It was all bad for the contractors. So, they signed a deal that just days before they had said was outrageously high. From a contractor press release…
MARBA has agreed to increases of 3.25% per year, in wages and benefits, for three years. The unions’s original offer was 15.9% over three years.
The last time the unions received this low of an increase was ten years ago when they received 3% per year.
Contractors had been offering just over 4 percent in benefit hikes over 3 years. They’ll be giving nearly 10 percent over the life of the contract.
But the tough line drawn by Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration — which has received significant support, financial and otherwise, from big labor — seems to have broken the stalemate and ended the strike.
That’s true. Quinn deserves big credit for this.
*** UPDATE *** From Gov. Quinn…
“I want to salute the Operating Engineers and Laborers’ for coming to an agreement that will allow Illinois’ workers to return to their jobs and get important infrastructure projects back on track. We must continue to work together to keep these projects moving for Illinois residents and for the future of our state’s economy. The Illinois Department of Transportation continues to announce new projects that are part of the largest construction season in the history of Illinois. I want to again commend both parties – the unions and contractors – for the agreement reached last night that will help keep this construction season moving in the right direction.”
Also, for those of you who are griping about this settlement in comments, please re-read MARBA’s statement…
The last time the unions received this low of an increase was ten years ago when they received 3% per year.
Given the deep economic pain afflicting Americans, politicians are generally not very popular – whether it’s the president or members of Congress, Republicans or Democrats. So it should be no great surprise that Chicagoans are dissatisfied with the most important Chicago pol, Mayor Richard Daley.
Just three years after he was re-elected for the fifth time, by a landslide margin, people are asking what he’s done for them lately. A Tribune poll finds 53 percent don’t want to see him re-elected, with 68 percent disapproving of his handling of city corruption.
“The city that works” doesn’t. It’s an old cliche, but it certainly applies.
The middle class is being squeezed hard by high taxes and fees and service that gets worse every day, not better.
Expensive parking meters are springing up all over the city where meters have never been. It’s never cost more to take a bus or a train, yet the service has never been worse. Billions are spent on downtown, while neighborhoods crumble. None of Daley’s big projects were done properly because he wanted them done so fast. Midway’s remake was a disaster, for instance. Millennium Park had so many retrofits that the grass where the general public watches band shell concerts couldn’t be sloped for fear that it would collapse the entire thing. So, nobody can see what’s going on except the swells up front.
The schools still suck. The streets aren’t even close to being safe. Remember Natasha McShane and Stacy Jurich, the women who were beaten half to death in Bucktown? There’s a far different vibe in the city now, and the murders of three police officers in the past two months has gotta have residents on edge. Police cameras are everywhere, but crime is legitimately freaking people out. Zorn…
Though Officer Thor Soderberg was in uniform July 7 when a man attacked him in a police parking lot, took his gun and shot him dead, that attacker was evidently mentally ill. Sunday’s attacker or attackers, apparently, in contrast, made what they considered a rational decision that an unprovoked assault on a uniformed officer was worth the risk.
This death wasn’t the result of a shootout with thugs who felt cornered, a high-speed pursuit or a terrible encounter with a deranged person. It appears to be a random hit by predators utterly undeterred the uniform.
Violence problems don’t get much more out of control than that.
“Out of control.” That’s Chicago. Daley was supposed to be good at control. But the city has gotten too far away from him while he was doing things like jaunting to Europe on his failed quest to bring the Olympics to Chicago.
A two-year police hiring slowdown has left the Police Department understaffed by more than 2,230 officers a day, below the city’s budget-authorized 13,200.
And sometimes we are seized by the startling commonality of it all. That was the case last week, when a group of young men from the Midtown Educational Center’s journalism apprenticeship sat in on an editorial board meeting. Our guests, participants in a mentoring program for 10th- to 12th-graders, had already done some reporting on crime and gangs — their work will appear soon on the Midtown Voices blog, midtown-metro.org/midtown-voice.html. Many of them live or go to school in neighborhoods where gangs and violence are everyday fixtures.
For nearly an hour, the apprentices schooled the pros about life on those streets. How they navigate their neighborhoods to get to class safely. How they distance themselves from intraschool skirmishes and gang conflicts. How to behave, who to cultivate and who to avoid in order to maintain relative safety in public. How gang members hold their guns, as opposed to the laughable depictions in the media.
We quizzed them about what can be done to defuse the danger. Are there enough officers on the street? (No, they said.) Do police surveillance cameras deter crime? (Get serious, they said.) Is Chicago better off with or without a handgun ban? (There was a spirited debate.)
Most tellingly, our young guests said they don’t count on adults, especially police, to protect them. They dodge the daily perils as best they can. They didn’t say this in a way that suggested they felt the grown-ups had failed them. It is what it is.
Chicago has failed its people. Illinois has failed its largest city. The federal government has failed one of the nation’s greatest cities.
Why doesn’t the city launch an all-out war on the gangs with the state and federal governments? They infest everything now.
Why not try new ideas in the city’s schools? A friend of mine in Kansas City sends her daughters to a fantastic French immersion charter school. She’s the widow of my best friend and we’d all love her to move to Chicago, but there’s nothing even remotely like that school in Chicago’s public system.
Why not take some of that bloated TIF fund and put it towards hiring more cops?
Why raise CTA fares just enough to barely get by but never enough to make the system decent again?
Most importantly, why isn’t the mayor asking why?
It’s time for fresh thought and a complete do-over. Top to bottom. And Daley is far from fresh.
* We must stop ‘creating more monsters’: But the most insightful words came from retired Chicago Police Sgt. Thomas Wortham III. Wortham urged government to come up with more money to keep young people involved in positive activities that will steer them away from trouble. “There is a new generation coming up that we need to save. We need funds. We need activities in the community to keep from creating more monsters,” he said.
