State efforts to recoup $1 million that impeached ex-Gov. Blagojevich said he errantly gave to Loop Lab School yielded Illinois taxpayers a paltry $89,000, Illinois Auditor General William Holland disclosed Thursday.
That finding, which triggered new questions about the role Gov. Quinn’s current chief of staff had in the Loop Law school grant, was part of a broader analysis by Holland of how the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity did a poor job of keeping tabs on some of the $1.5 billion in grants it oversaw. […]
The state’s recovery of only 9 percent of the original grant to Gill’s organization — a process undertaken by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and Attorney General Lisa Madigan — came despite the court-approved sale last January of the former school property for $750,000.
Most of the proceeds from that sale wound up being eaten up to pay off a portion of a $305,000 loan Loop Lab School took out from Republic Bank, along with $160,000 in unpaid condominium association assessments, nearly $80,000 to fix out-of-code construction undertaken by the school, a $43,219 federal tax lien and various city and county taxes, court documents show.
“We made every effort to recover the state’s money. But the bottom line is this grant should never have been given in the first place, and it’s yet another example of the toll former Gov. Blagojevich’s reckless actions have taken on the state,” Madigan spokeswoman Natalie Bauer said.
* My former intern Paul Richardson will always have a special place in my heart because he was my first intern. I never wanted an intern, but he completely changed my mind. Paul was an incredibly hard worker, extremely reliable and mature beyond his years. The kid is still beloved at the Statehouse by the many people he met. Actually, he’s not a kid anymore. He’s about to graduate from law school and he’s starting an interesting new business. From an e-mail…
…I thought you’d get a kick out of knowing that I’ve kind of come full circle and am now working on legal blogging. To make spare money over the last year I’ve been running the blog of a medium size firm here in the city. I’m in the process of turning the idea into a small business–essentially providing daily legal related posts ad analysis to firm blogs in order to boost their search engine rankings. The site is called LawBlogWriters.com.
Anyway, after reminiscing about how I wouldn’t have any connection to blogging or law school were it not for my time in Springfield, I wanted to just send a quick hello.
As always, thanks for your guidance. Send my regards to Wasan.
-Paul
P.S. A few more clients and Ill be able to actually make my law school loan payments. If any Springfield law firm Lobsters happen to mention blogs, send them my way.
Consider it done, Paul, and best of luck.
If anyone is interested in Paul’s new endeavor, send me an e-mail and I’ll put you in touch with him.
* I’ll be back Monday - or Tuesday, depending on the news volume. Have a great one.
* But, before I go, allow me to vent a little. Hey! State Fair goofballs! The Black Keys are playing smallish locales all over the place this summer, including a 950-seat open-air venue in an Indiana state park. Listen, clowns, I’m getting really tired of those Hoosiers beating us out. Why can’t you backwards Philistines book a band like this? Instead, we get freezer-burned, has-been 80s rehashes and mall-music “artists.” Your complete lack of taste and imagination makes me wanna tear my hair out. Ugh. Seriously, what is wrong with you people?
I say this out of love, believe it or not. I love me some State Fair. Always have, ever since I was a kid in rural Iroquois County. But you State Fair types are killing me, man. Locate just a hint of a clue, please. And, I know, the Springfield area is what it is when it comes to musical preferences. But, how about devoting just one night a year to something besides safe, predictable, inoffensive tripe?
OK. Whew. I feel a little better. So, let’s properly kick off the holiday weekend with a Black Keys cover of a Stooges classic…
* Republican state Sen. Kyle McCarter has been a major proponent (and sponsor) of worker’s compensation reform. And he’s framed the debate in very stark terms…
“Right now, Illinois is at a huge disadvantage over states like Missouri and Indiana in attracting businesses and jobs,” said McCarter. “Our system also makes it harder for our businesses to compete with their counterparts in other states.”
“If we pass this [worker’s comp reform] plan in the Senate, sending onto the House for approval and the Governor signs it, we’ll send a clear message that Illinois is open for business again. This will be one big billboard saying: ‘Open for Business in Illinois’,” said McCarter. […]
McCarter’s proposed development, Innovation Park, located near O’Fallon, is currently before the O’Fallon Planning Commission.
If approved by the O’Fallon council, Innovation Park will be located on 12.3 acres of farm land along the south side of U.S. Route 50 East. The area is surrounded by a mix of industrial, commercial, residential and agricultural properties. […]
McCarter’s plan calls for several buildings for light industrial manufacturing. Phase one involves building a 30,000-square-foot steel frame building south of East Highway 50 for McCarter’s business Custom Product Innovations and Custom Coating Innovations Company. That business is currently located at 30 Commerce Dr. in O’Fallon.
Additional phases may include the construction of five 80’ x 200’ industrial buildings east and south of the first two phases, and a 100’ x 100’ industrial building along East Highway 50.
You don’t need more proof than this that businesses have all sorts of reasons to invest where they do.
* This post, by the way, is not intended at all as a slam on McCarter the businessman. We need all the jobs we can get. Thanks for putting your money into this state, Senator.
Instead, it’s intended to show that heated Springfield rhetoric doesn’t always quite match up to reality.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan sent a letter today to Pabst Brewing Company, based in Woodridge, Ill., urging the company to lessen the alcohol concentration in its new malt beverage marketed under the name Blast. Madigan is especially concerned over the product’s potential danger to minors.
“Alcohol abuse among young people is a serious and alarming epidemic,” Attorney General Madigan said. “A product like this only serves to glamorize alcohol abuse and promote binge drinking, threatening the safety of those consuming it.”
The Attorneys General’s letter, joined by 17 other state, city and territory officials, details concerns over Blast, which amounts to a “binge-in-a-can.” The 12-percent alcohol concentration of Blast means a single 23.5 ounce container is equivalent to drinking an entire six-pack of typical American beer. Madigan said the promotion and marketing of Blast appeals to minors, with its brightly colored cans and fruit flavors and a marketing campaign featuring hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg.
Grape and Watermelon flavored brewskis are not my cup of, um, whatever. But are they for kids? Mike Riopell at the Daily Herald’s new politics blog got Pabst’s spokespeople to respond…
Blast is only meant to be consumed by those above legal drinking age and does not contain caffeine. As with all Pabst products, our marketing efforts for Blast are focused on conveying the message of drinking responsibly. To that end, the alcohol content of Blast is clearly marked on its packaging, we are encouraging consumers to consider mixing Blast with other beverages or enjoy it over ice, and we are offering a special 7 ounce bottle for those who prefer a smaller quantity, among other important initiatives.
The alcohol content is “clearly marked” because that’s the big selling point. Drink one and you’re done. Although, the company might want to make sure minors aren’t posting on its FaceBook page if it wants to keep its rep clean. Either way, I still dunno whether the attorney general ought to be involved in this. Your thoughts?
Aug. 12 Jeff Dunham
Aug. 13 3 Doors Down
Aug. 14 Jason Aldean with Chris Young and Thompson Square
Aug. 15 Illinois Symphony Orchestra & Million Dollar Quartet
Aug. 16 Luke Bryan with Trailer Choir
Aug. 17 Oak Ridge Boys with Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers
Aug. 18 Allstar Weekend
Aug. 19 38 Special with Loverboy, April Wine and The Tubes
Aug. 20 MC Hammer & Boyz II Men
Aug. 21 Lady Antebellum with Stealing Angels
* Reince Priebus, the head of the Republican National Committee, had some harsh words for organized labor during a Chicago appearance this week…
Priebus cited Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s challenge of public employee union collective bargaining rights and the expensive victory by a Republican incumbent in a Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Those battles framed the question of “what kind of America do we want to have,” Priebus said.
“Do we want a country of more people riding the wagon or more people driving the wagon?” Priebus said. “Do we want a country of makers or a country of takers?”
Public employee unions, Priebus said, “talk about this collective bargaining rights (issue) as if Moses brought them down from Mt. Sinai.”
* But Politifact took a look at a claim by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels that “in 41 states out of 50, [public employees] are better paid than the taxpayers who support them” and pronounced it false…
Daniels’ message, that government workers are better paid than those in the private sector, traces to an egregiously simplistic comparison, ignoring meaningful differences in the public and private sector workforces largely due to education. Factoring those in, many state and local government workers lag behind their private-sector counterparts. We rate his statement False.
* Meanwhile, this is a big reason why the Senate Republicans have refused so far to put their budget proposal into actual bill form…
Local leaders in Evanston and Skokie are telling state legislators to keep their hands off of municipalities’ share of the state income tax – saying the effects of such a revenue loss would be “devastating.”
According to the Illinois Municipal League, a proposal in Springfield would divert about $300 million in income tax revenue from local municipalities to help reduce the state’s budget deficit.
Skokie officials say the loss of income tax revenue would force the village to make “drastic reductions to essential village programs and services and dramatically increase local taxes.” […]
If the state were to cut $300 million from shared income tax revenue, local government’s could lose an additional $23.40 per resident, according to municipal league figures.
That proposal to cut $300 million from revenue sharing is in the Senate Republican plan. A bill would allow opposition to focus in on the sponsors, which wouldn’t be pleasant.
* BNSF to add 87 railroad jobs in Galesburg this year - Railroad plans projects to improve traffic flow
* Poe to add election bill to larger measure: Local legislators didn’t take action on two high-profile bills before a deadline last week, leaving the future of the measures — designed to limit candidates in elections and barring state funding for improvements to Springfield’s Third Street rail corridor — in limbo.
* This may look worse than it might be. But still…
More than 10 percent of Illinois’ 102 counties have more registered voters than residents who are old enough to vote, according to a new report.
The 14 counties, as well as the board governing elections in East St. Louis, have been notified of the problem by state election regulators after the release of new U.S. Census bureau population figures earlier this year.
Among counties grappling with the disparity is Alexander County, which has experienced voter fraud issues in the past. Numbers released by the Illinois State Board of Elections show there are 7,806 registered voters in a county that has just 6,353 residents age 18 or older.
Other counties facing similar circumstances include Hardin, Jasper, Massac, Mercer, Pulaski, Rock Island and Union.
Illinois has a ton of tiny counties, and pretty much all of those 14 fit that description except for Rock Island County, which is quite large. Rock Island apparently hasn’t done a purge since the last census, which could account for the problem. People move and don’t drop their prior registration, people die, etc. The state thinks there are more than 11,500 people in that county who have either moved or are dead. Still, that seems a bit weird that they’d have more registered voters there than people.
“This is a poor analogy, a very poor analogy,” said Silverstein (D-Chicago), who is Jewish and represents numerous Holocaust survivors in his district that includes Rogers Park and Skokie. “It brings back horrible memories. To compare this to Lisa Madigan is totally absurd.
“It offended not only me but a lot of Jewish individuals and non-Jewish individuals who know the history of the Holocaust. [This group] should think before they print these things,” he said.
But Boch refused to back down…
“That image on the front of GunNews says a whole lot. The FOID card information that could be made public is identifying Illinois gun owners. It’s the first step toward what happened in Germany in the 1930s,” he said.
Boch criticized Silverstein, husband of newly elected North Side Ald. Debra Silverstein, for objecting to the analogy.
“What is offensive is people wielding the victimhood card against others and trying to intimidate others out of their First Amendment rights. Sen. Silverstein ought to be thanking us for our advocacy of his First and Second Amendment rights, not whining and crying that he feels offended,” Boch said. “He doesn’t have a copyright on Holocaust imagery.”
Boch truly is utterly, wholly clueless. He accuses a Jew of “playing the victimhood card” after Boch had the audacity to compare the attorney general to Hitler just because she responded to an Associated Press FOIA request in a way in which he didn’t approve? Boch predicted Madigan’s actions will lead to the genocide of gun owners, but it’s Silverstein who’s playing the victim for objecting? Mr. Boch, you’ve got it completely backwards. You are playing the victim here. And a hugely obnoxious one at that.
Silverstein has a right to be offended and to express his offense. Boch has a right to say what he wants, but if he’s going to be this ridiculous, then he should be called out for it.
On a more practical note, however, the NRA’s Todd Vandermyde had better muzzle his extremists before they tube his bill.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* Bernie Schoenburg has a column today about some truly weird people. Bernie is Jewish, and he was jarred when he saw an edition of GunNews distributed at the Statehouse with a front-page photo of a “a replica of the Jewish star-shaped patch, with the word ‘Jude’ in the center, that some Jews in Nazi-dominated Europe were forced to wear on their clothes.” The GunNews article was about Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s ruling that only the names of FOID card holders should be released to the public via the Freedom of Information Act.
John Boch publishes GunNews and runs Guns Save Life. You may have seen this group’s Burma Shave-style billboards along Illinois’ interstate highways. Boch defended the front page…
[Boch] said release of names of FOID cardholders would harass and demonize them, just as Jews were in World War II.
“I don’t believe … that people of the Jewish faith have a monopoly on the symbols of the religion,” said Boch, a Christian.
“Given the opinions of those on the political left in our society,” he added, “frankly, I think a lot of people in our society would like to see gun owners either imprisoned or exterminated.”
Man, that’s some serious paranoia. Release of FOID card names would result in Nazi-style death camps? A lot of people want to see gun owners exterminated? What country does he think we live in?
And it gets even weirder…
[Boch] also referred me to one of his affiliated groups I hadn’t heard of — Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. A message of that group, according to its website, is how some governments historically have deprived people of firearms and then “wiped them from the face of the earth.”
Bob Meier, interim executive director, who splits time between Chicago and DeKalb, said he’s Lutheran
Um, the head of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership is a Lutheran? Really?
A 2009 Illinois State Police report cited “significant information gaps” in the state’s ability to detect and screen out people with serious mental illnesses who might go on a shooting rampage. A state police official testified last week that those gaps still exist.
Illinois falls short in its reporting of psychiatric hospital admissions to the FBI as required by a federal law passed after the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings, according to the ISP report. Gaps also exist in reporting by health professionals and nursing homes of dangerous mentally ill people who should be disqualified from gun ownership under Illinois law.
Last week, Illinois State Police Firearms Bureau Chief John Coffman told lawmakers at a hearing that the reporting problems still exist and have caused him “some sleepless nights.”
“The concern is the name of a prohibited person would be found in a queue someplace after an event,” Coffman said in an official audio recording of the April 14 hearing provided to The Associated Press. “We are concerned about the existence of some gaps and the potential tragedy that could occur as a result.”
Richard Pearson of the Illinois State Rifle Association said the info gaps are small and said people were making “a mountain out of a molehill because they don’t want to have concealed carry in Illinois.”
Thoughts?
* Related…
* State Police can’t keep track of their stuff: An audit of the Illinois State Police released April 7 shows problems with inventory control, information security and more, but ISP says it lacks the resources to address some problems.
A new survey finds that an increasing number of Illinoisans are abandoning landline telephones in favor of cellphones only _ especially if they live near Chicago and St. Louis.
The report released Wednesday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that almost 30 percent of Cook County residents over age 18 live in wireless-only households. The estimate is even higher _ 31.5 percent _ in Madison and St. Clair counties.
In the rest of Illinois, an estimated 22 percent of adults live in households with only cellphones.
* The Question: Are you considering ditching your landline phone? Or, have you already done so? Why or why not?
