* Jim Warren’s take on Gov. Pat Quinn…

Pat Quinn seems to have a cloud hovering above him, even when he is the bearer of good tidings.

There was Governor Quinn on Thursday morning, inside a Red Line el stop at 35th Street and the Dan Ryan Expressway, to announce impressive financial help for desperately needed Chicago Transit Authority improvements.

But he seemed as upbeat as Jackie Gleason portraying Maish, the conniving but kind-hearted boxing manager in the film version of “Requiem for a Heavyweight,” who looks out a coffee shop window and forlornly mumbles, “I’m in Pittsburgh and it’s raining.” […]

Quinn might climb atop the Hancock Center if he took things quite as personally, given his legislative defeats and evolving caricature as gadfly-turned-bumbling executive […]

As I left the wind-swept Red Line stop, I ran into Jacky Grimshaw, a transit authority board member and longtime community organizer-activist. She has known Quinn since their days as young bucks with Gov. Dan Walker in the mid-1970s.

“He’s still the populist he was back then, with the same basic bottom-line value system, looking out for the little guy,” Grimshaw said.

That sounds quaint to Springfield’s hard-bitten crowd. But there are worse reflexes.

By last Thursday, when Warren attended that presser, Gov. Quinn had completely toned down his act. The controversy over his leadership style wasn’t because of his purely upbeat press conferences beginning last Wednesday. The seeds of the legislative and media backlash were sown weeks earlier.

* Finke’s take…

More and more lawmakers are expressing frustration with Gov. PAT QUINN and the way he operates. Some even compare Quinn with his unbeloved predecessor, ROD BLAGOJEVICH.

The frustration comes from a couple of areas. One is Quinn’s penchant for doing things seemingly without fully thinking through the consequences. A prime example is the regional school superintendent issue, where Quinn eliminated money for their salaries without any plan for how their duties, specified in state law, would be carried out.

Some lawmakers also believe Quinn is becoming more confrontational. Quinn unloaded on lawmakers a couple of weeks ago, suggesting their votes on the smart-grid bill were bought and paid for with utility company donations. Last week in Chicago, Quinn said he doesn’t have to be a pal with lawmakers.

Pals? Not necessarily. But as long as the legislature remains a branch of government, it’s probably a good idea to at least reach a working accommodation with them. If not, it’s going to be a very long three years until the next election.

*Quinn also raised hackles last week with comments on the gambling-expansion bill. After first signaling an interest in negotiating a bill with lawmakers, Quinn said, “I don’t think the word negotiate is appropriate.”

What is appropriate? The “my-way-or-the-highway” approach? That’s always successful in government.

The question now is whether Quinn stopped the legislative bashing too late to stem his veto session losses.

* The governor held a press conference today and stayed uniformly positive and professional…

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I had to chuckle when I heard the governor say that before Cardinal George and the bishops sent out a press release to publicly criticize him they should’ve asked for a private meeting to discuss his attendance at Personal PAC’s fundraiser. Excluding the past five days or so, Quinn’s behavior has made the Cardinal’s look almost tame by comparison.

* Roundup…

* Illinois man freed after murder conviction vacated: One of five men sent to prison for the rape and murder of a middle school classmate two decades ago walked out of an Illinois prison Friday, exonerated by new DNA evidence that also has cleared at least two of the others, including his half-brother. James Harden, now 36, stood outside the walls of Menard Correctional Center in Chester and said the taste of freedom was “like breathing new life in my body.”

* Editorial: Where’s outrage over injustice?: It’s a story we’ve seen all too regularly: Innocent men who lose decades of their lives because of wrongful convictions.

* Would speed cameras really save lives? - Ticketing may bring in revenue, but statistics show city’s proposed ’safety zones’ are not where most kids are killed by speeders

* Moody’s: Removing Property Tax Exemption for Illinois Hospitals Would Be “Credit Negative”

* Key Week Ahead For Illinois Health Insurance Website

* Brady: Tax break bill should pass this week: “We warned Gov. Pat Quinn when he threatened to pass this (income) tax increase that there would be ramifications,” Brady said. “And, we’ve seen them and not just in these two companies but in several companies.”

* Lawmakers look forward to second week of veto session

* Regional superintendents working without pay

* State declines to investigate vast majority of hospital complaints - Illinois officials didn’t look into 85 percent of the 560 hospital complaints received last year, even when the reports alleged violations such as patient abuse

* More Illinois lawmakers opposing legislative scholarships - Gov. Quinn still faces uphill battle to abolish tuition waivers, but more than 33% in Statehouse now opting out of program

* Veto session has sense of urgency in Springfield - With little resolved, last three days promise drama

* Appeals court hears case over 111-foot Ill. cross

* Protecting rube’s right to roadkill

* Arsenal job cuts go beyond garrison