* Another week in the books. Man, this summer is going by way too fast.
I dunno about you, but I’m planning to spend some serious quality time at the Illinois State Fair this weekend. And if you’re looking for info, there is no better place than the State Journal-Register’s website. Click here for their stories and extremely helpful guides.
Gov. Pat Quinn admitted he’s already making headway on his goal to eat his way through the fair. Even before he snipped the ribbon for the official opening today, the governor had jumped in following Thursday night’s pre-fair parade.
He acknowledged — under his breath — that he had downed three pork chops on a stick and an elephant ear. An aide to the Democratic governor also copped to Quinn having some ice cream too.
I saw the governor out and about last night. He was having such a good time that I didn’t have the heart to approach him.
* I also ran into US Sen. Mark Kirk last night. He was on his way to sample the chocolate covered bacon. He even offered to buy me one, but I declined. I have enough problems without eating something like that. Kirk won’t be at Republican Day next week because he has Navy Reserve duty, so he was trying to get as much out of his 2011 State Fair experience as he could yesterday.
* State Treasurer Dan Rutherford was at the parade and on the grounds last night, but he “officially” kicked off his State Fair experience today with a ride down the Giant Slide…
Republican Treasurer Dan Rutherford stole the schtick of former GOP Gov. Jim Thompson and his thunderous rides down the Giant Slide two decades before.
Rutherford said he’s gone on the ride for years. But this time — or actually all three times he rode down the slide today — it was symbolic of this week’s wild slide of the stock markets.
Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon says she plans to make history at this year’s Illinois State Fair. Simon will play banjo with her band, Loose Gravel, on Wednesday.
Her office says she’s the first constitutional officer in history to perform with her own band at the annual agricultural showcase.
Loose Gravel was featured earlier this month on ABC7…
An eclectic blues and boogie based band with traces of folk, rock, country, funk, and lush vocal harmonies, formed in 1998. Members are Jayme McCarroll (mando, harmonica, guitar, percussion, vocals), Lynda Killoran (bass, drums, vocals), Maria Johnson (piano/keyboard, guitar, vocals), Cindy Clark (guitar, drums, vocals), and Sheila Simon (banjo, bassoon, vocals). A “democratic” band, members take turns singing lead and providing multi-part vocal back-up across a wide range of original material and cover songs. The band has been together for 12 years. They all sing and they all write songs. They have 1 CD out and play mostly folk rock and blues.
* My daughter Vanessa’s birthday is today. I’m hoping she can spend some time with me at the Fair this year as we’ve done in years past. Anyway, this song was one of our mutual favorites when she was a kid, so it goes out to her…
* Sorry for the very late posting of this. I was out of the office much of today.
Anyway, I was checking Google News last night and came across this news story from St. John’s Antigua during a search for “George Ryan”…
In the meantime, the League will on Friday host a major public forum on the issue of continuing electoral reform. Starting at 8 pm at the George Ryan Conference Center on Camacho’s Avenue, the discussion will be led by Professor Paget Henry, Rhodes Scholar Karen-Mae Hill, Barrister E Ann Henry and former UN Ambassador Lionel “Max” Hurst. Lawyer Ralph Francis will moderate. [Empasis added.]
The George Ryan Conference Center is apparently at the CityView Hotel…
We host functions from the grand to the intimate, including meetings, company parties, departmental retreats, dinners, seminars, reunions, weddings and holiday themed events. Gatherings can be accommodated either at the George Ryan Conference Center or the City View Conference Rooms.
I sent the hotel an e-mail message last night asking if the conference room was named after “our” George Ryan, but didn’t receive a response. I also couldn’t find any photos.
* The Question: Use your imagination to describe the George Ryan Conference Center.
Best commenter gets a beverage at the State Fair beer tent of his or her choice.
* Sen. Dick Durbin was in East St. Louis this week to talk about violence…
The public housing complexes on the east side of the river might just be the deadliest places in the country, but efforts are underway to secure the area.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is bringing in federal law enforcement to help state and local authorities crack down on crime. Figures show that East St. Louis is nearly twice as dangerous as even the worst streets in Chicago.
Durbin later told reporters in a news conference that city leaders have to get more involved and take a look at the number of liquor stores that are within blocks of each other and that stay open all night long and are directly related to some of the crime that’s occurring. He said the nightclub scene also is a source of the crime, often because of the outsiders who come to East St. Louis.
“Take a look at the crime because of your decision. Innocent people are dying because of your decision,” Durbin said in reference to city leaders. […]
Durbin, who was born and raised in East St. Louis, said he was happy to come home, but unhappy about the statistics relating to violent crimes in East St. Louis.
“Residents of East St. Louis suffer from one of the highest violent crime and homicide rates in the country,” said the Senate’s assistant majority leader. “It’s not a new problem, but it’s a problem that demands a new solution. The people living and raising their families in this community deserve better. As an East St. Louis native, it pains me to see my old hometown in such distress.”
Less than 24 hours after Illinois Senator Dick Durbin made scathing remarks about East St. Louis leaders, Mayor Alvin Parks ordered sales at liquor stores to end by 1 a.m.
Mayor Parks says he’s been thinking about making the move for awhile, but last weekend was the last straw. On Saturday night, the mayor reports seeing crowds hanging out at gas stations and liquor stores as late as 6 a.m. – three hours after those stored were allowed to sell alcohol.
“Some of the gas stations have become almost like club scenes,” says Mayor Parks.
The mayor didn’t change the hours of the local nightclubs, however.
The Illinois fiscal 2012 budget doesn’t address the state’s “sizeable backlog of unpaid bills and an unsustainable ascent” in spending for pension benefits, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report. […]
Still, the tax increases are a short-term solution because the rates decrease in 2015, leaving the state with a “significant funding burden” to meet its unfunded pension liability of about $80 billion and the likelihood that late payments to vendors will persist, Moody’s said.
“The state may be able to use increased tax revenue to chip away at its large balance of past-due budgetary payment obligations, but it has not adopted a comprehensive plan to do so,” the company said. […]
“Because of its financial weakness, Illinois is less well positioned than other states to handle a renewed downturn in the national economy,” Moody’s said.
The story on the Moody’s warning from Wednesday is here.
* WLS Radio posted a story yesterday afternoon in anticipation of a possible downgrade, which, thankfully, didn’t happen…
One of the credit rating agencies - Moody’s - is reportedly thinking about downgrading the credit rating of the state of Illinois and WLS Radio’s Bill Cameron says Illinois Republicans say this is no time for Gov. Pat Quinn to try to do more borrowing.
Republicans say they’ve blocked Quinn from borrowing more billions before and will again if he tries to do it in the current climate of rising interest rates.
But Quinn says the state needs to pay its bills now, and he says this about the Republicans.
“The notion that you put your head in the sand and pretend that these debts don’t exist is not a good way to go. It isn’t good for our economy.”
Moody’s has already warned that it is worried about a handful of states, which it says it could downgrade. The 5 states are Maryland, South Carolina, New Mexico, Tennessee and Virginia, which remain under review.
Maryland, Virginia and New Mexico have comparatively high percentages of federal employees and contracts, the ratings company said. New Mexico, South Carolina and Tennessee depend more on Medicaid money versus the national average, Moody’s said.
Moody’s also indicated some states are safer than others and are less vulnerable to a downgrade.
The 10 top-rated states are Alaska, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas, Utah and Vermont. They would be cut only in the event that the federal rating is dropped by more than one level, Moody’s said.
* I ran into one of the governor’s spokespeople at the State Fair last night. She wasn’t really pleased with my Sun-Times column, which was posted on the paper’s site in the early evening. But, hey, them’s the breaks…
‘I think you want a governor who’s thoughtful and thinks of everything before deciding an important matter.”
That’s Gov. Pat Quinn, speaking to reporters Thursday afternoon in Chicago.
Yes, that’s the same governor who seems to be best known for his policy flip-flops and his disjointed, ad-hoc style than any sort of coherent, sound governance.
Remember Quinn’s pledge not to raise the income tax by more than a single percentage point? He said he would veto anything above that. But then he signed a 2 percentage point tax increase into law months later.
Quinn’s business policy seems to be to hand out tax dollars to every big corporate executive who walks into his office and threatens to move to another state.
His budget proposal this year was so full of pie-in-the-sky dreaming that the General Assembly — which has not exactly been a bastion of fiscal conservatism — was forced to drag him back down to Earth by making big cuts.
But there are those who strongly believe he really does spend a lot of time thinking things through.
Several weeks ago, I had a long conversation with someone who knows Quinn far better than I do.
We talked not long after Quinn vetoed part of the new state budget.
Among other things, the governor eliminated salaries for regional school superintendents, even though they are elected officials and have several duties under Illinois law.
“ ‘Bad Pat’ does things he doesn’t want to do, like cutting education, cutting human services and cutting the regional superintendents,” she said. “Then ‘Good Pat’ swoops in and saves the day! He thinks this makes him look like a heroic problem solver.”
I tried to pass off her comments as a joke. I had never heard anything like that before, and I figured that the budget veto was just pure incompetence. But she said she was serious.
“He keeps setting up crisis situations so he can jump in with the diving catch. He doesn’t understand that people remember the crises a lot longer than they remember the catch — especially when the diving catch requires spending money we don’t have.”
“He keeps trying to play 3-D chess when the situation only requires checkers,” she concluded.
Again, this person has known Gov. Quinn a whole lot longer and better than I have.
And if she’s right, then we’re in bigger trouble than I ever thought.
I mean, Illinois has enough problems without creating new ones for sport.
Now that the federal government’s bond rating has been lowered and the markets have gone all nutso, Illinois can ill afford more drama.
What we need is clear-headed thinking and a firm resolve not only to get the state’s still shaky budget in order but also to somehow improve our job climate. Yes, that’s a tall order. Even the federal government hasn’t been able to figure that one out.
When Quinn patted himself on the back for being “thoughtful” and “thinking of everything,” he was referring to the weeks he has spent considering what to do about the gaming expansion bill.
No matter what else you may think of it, gaming expansion will undoubtedly bring in more revenue to the state and create jobs.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel really wants a new casino for Chicago for those very same reasons.
Quinn doesn’t mind giving Chicago a casino, but he doesn’t want Downstate communities such as Danville and Rockford to have their own, which makes little sense.
Instead of trying to look like a dramatic superhero, he ought to just fix the regulatory shortcomings in the bill and start putting some people to work.
* Related…
* No quick help offered for regional superintendents: Gov. Pat Quinn Thursday repeated that his administration is working on a plan to pay regional school superintendents out of local funds, but he still offered no immediate relief for the superintendents and their assistants, who have gone without pay since July 1. Speaking before the start of the Illinois State Fair parade, Quinn talked of developing a plan “to help them out in the short term,” but did not elaborate.
* Arlington Park chairman hasn’t forgotten friends lost in WWII
* Report: Overcrowding worsens conditions at Vandalia prison: Gov. Pat Quinn’s decision to halt an early prisoner release program has led to woeful living conditions for inmates at the Vandalia Correctional Center, a new report concludes. In a scathing review of the 90-year-old minimum-security lockup, a prison watchdog group said the state’s rapidly growing inmate population has forced prison personnel to house offenders in areas of the facility that periodically flood, causing mold and mildew and potential health problems for the prisoners.
* Economy is focus of Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce conference
