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Thursday, Aug 23, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Thursday, Aug 23, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* An e-mail from Don Moss, who used Department of Human Services stats to produce this list…

Despite all the handwringing about the loss of state jobs, the process of downsizing our developmental centers is moving at a snail’s pace. Here are the comparative statistics on the numbers of residents in each SODC in the 4 month span from April 1 to August 1 of this year:

Mabley, Dixon - from 88 up to 93

Kiley, Waukegan - the same at 210

Fox, Dwight - from 114 down to 113

Jacksonville - from 182 down to 168

Choate, Anna - from 267 up to 274 (144 of whom have a primary diagnosis of DD)

Murray, Centralia - from 275 down to 272

Ludeman, Prk Forest - from 410 down to 407

Shapiro, Kankakee - from 550 down to 544

Total - 2,096 down to 2,081 - An average of about 4 individuals per month. AT THIS RATE, IT WILL BE ANOTHER 43 YEARS BEFORE THEY ARE ALL DOWNSIZED AND CLOSED.

47 Comments

Question of the day

Thursday, Aug 23, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I’ll be the speaker at a City Club luncheon on Tuesday, December 18th. They’re looking for an event title. So far, the only submission is “Christmas with Rich Miller.” Seems kinda boring.

* The Question: Your City Club luncheon title suggestion?

80 Comments

Quinn to wait a few more days?

Thursday, Aug 23, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Whatever the governor is preparing to do, expect it to raise hackles in the General Assembly…

Despite repeatedly voicing concerns about a major gambling expansion that’s on his desk, Gov. Pat Quinn said [yesterday] that he’ll need the weekend to determine exactly what he’ll do with the proposal.

The Democratic governor has until Tuesday to take action on the proposal or it automatically becomes law. The governor can veto the measure outright, suggest changes, or sign the expansion into law. The last scenario is unlikely after Quinn warning gambling expansion supporters in the spring not to “hold your breath” for his approval.

* Quinn tipped his hand a bit on where he thinks the dollars should go…

Quinn said his biggest concerns are integrity and oversight of gamblers and casino owners.

“I always believe the money should go to education. We have to make sure if we have any kind of gambling that the resources and revenue go to things that are important in our society,” Quinn said.

That’ll probably play well in the polls, but shouldn’t the cash be used to pay down the state’s massive backlog of overdue bills rather than bolstering the state’s base spending?

* The gaming bill’s supporters were hoping to use the ComEd game plan. Quinn opposed ComEd’s “smart grid” bill, but legislators overrode his veto, then passed a “trailer bill” that made many of the governor’s desired changes. Quinn quietly signed that trailer bill into law. But Speaker Madigan doesn’t think the same path will work with gaming…

If Quinn vetoes or rewrites the plan that would allow a casino in Chicago, as many expect, the General Assembly lacks the votes to block him, House Speaker Michael Madigan told reporters.

With a one-word answer, the top House Democrat from Chicago responded to a question about whether the Legislature could mount a successful override effort on the gaming bill this fall: “No.”

That likely means supporters of the plan to bring casinos to Lake County, Chicago, the south suburbs, Rockford and Danville will have to start over when a new General Assembly is seated next January

So, that’s all she wrote.

…Adding… Rep. Lou Lang says that “the Speaker was only giving an opinion on a gaming bill override. He didn’t say it was dead.”

11 Comments

Tribune targets Madigan son

Thursday, Aug 23, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The Tribune has a story today about the son of House Speaker Michael Madigan rounding up a few suburban businesses for his employer, Mesirow Financial. The paper claims that the younger Madigan solicitied some business at his father’s political events.

Andrew Madigan appears to be getting at least some clients that are close to the Speaker’s political organization, like Bridgeview Mayor Steven Landek, who is Madigan’s Senator…

In a brief interview with the Tribune, Landek said he did not know whether Andrew Madigan was involved when Bridgeview hired Mesirow on Dec. 30, 2010, for a three-year contract worth up to $70,000 per year as the village’s broker on risk management insurance. The Tribune could not determine through documents provided by the village whether Madigan was involved there, and both Landek and Mesirow declined to say.

Landek said all insurance brokerage deals in Bridgeview go through a competitive bidding process.

“If Andrew Madigan was on the team that won the business, he was also on the Mesirow team that lost the health insurance bid,” said Landek, referring to the bids for city employee health insurance that went to another brokerage firm last year. “What does that tell you?”

* But this has to be the funniest line in the piece. It’s from Chicago Heights Mayor David Gonzalez, who received campaign help from Madigan’s organization in his first bid for the office…

“I would be surprised — if you ask him who the mayor of Chicago Heights is — if he knows my name.”

Speaker Madigan has been playing in Chicago Heights politics for almost 20 years. He engineered the appointment of the town’s mayor to the Illinois House when Rep. George Scully got a judgeship. Madigan knows him some Chicago Heights.

Better alibis, please.

30 Comments

Sweep!

Thursday, Aug 23, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* It’s always nice to sweep the Yankees and the Pale Hose finished off New York last night in fine fashion. The Sox are two games ahead of Detroit in the AL Central. Zorn, a Tigers fan, thinks the Sox are for real…

After they lost three out of four to the Red Sox in mid July and were then swept by my boyhood (and still favorite) team the Tigers to fall from first place, I figured they were all but done for the season.

But they won their next five games — and 17 of the 27 games — after that bad patch (including two come-from-behind wins over the Yankees so far this week) and now hold a two-game lead over the Tigers. The pitching and hitting both seem to be there, and though I won’t root for them I certainly wouldn’t bet against them.

They have seven games left against the Tigers — including three away games over Labor Day weekend and four home games in mid September — that will likely decide the race

I agree.

Your thoughts?

* Also, Gov. Pat Quinn was apparently heckled at Tuesday night’s game…

That was Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his friend, Michael Sacks, who heads World Business Chicago, hanging out at the White Sox game Tuesday evening against the New York Yankees. […]

Mr. Emanuel signed some autographs, and the governor drew a crowd wanting him to wish him well and pose for cell-phone photos. The buzz almost drowned out the few hecklers who were likely upset over the state’s fiscal mess.

AFSCME strikes again?

Heh.

34 Comments

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