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Question of the day

Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Sun-Times

(I)n a surprise move, Illinois Restaurant Association president Sam Toia opposes allowing bars and restaurants to apply for consumption licenses.

“Who gets these licenses? I don’t think you can give incidental licenses to all restaurants. There’s only gonna be so many licenses that are gonna get out and that won’t be a level playing field,” Toia said.

“We want to make sure that [recreational marijuana is] is not competing with our great culinary scene. Restaurants are here to serve food. Bars are here to serve spirits, wine and beer and show great events. So we at the restaurant association feel, just let the dispensaries dispense” and allow consumption.

* I reached out to Toia via email…

Why couldn’t they give non-smoking consumption licenses to any restaurant which applies? Several chefs will want to infuse food and drinks, so why should that all be completely banned?

* His response…

Hi Rich,

The IRA looks forward to reviewing Mayor Lightfoot and the City Council’s proposals and various concepts for cannabis consumption as conversations continue in the coming weeks. We appreciate the opportunity to be at the table on this important issue.

Thanks,
Sam

* The Question: Should restaurants in communities that have approved the sale of cannabis be allowed to serve food and beverages infused with cannabis? Make sure to explain your answer. And, remember, this isn’t about toking up at your local eatery.

  35 Comments      


Probably not a good idea

Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Rachel Hinton at the Sun-Times

Hoping to boost his bid for the state’s highest court, Illinois Supreme Court candidate Nathaniel Howse Jr. contributed $1,000 to Ald. Carrie Austin, who is under the federal microscope, saying he acted in the name of getting out the vote and elevating “the voices of the otherwise unheard.”

Howse, who lives on the South Side in the Third Ward, gave the money Monday to Austin’s 34th Ward Regular Democratic Organization on the Far South Side.

Howse, who is an Illinois Appellate Court judge, said in a written statement that the money was “to assist them with voter registration, Get Out The Vote efforts and other grassroots activities that the organization engages in.

“I believe strongly that underrepresented communities deserve the right to be heard,” Howse said. “The 34th Ward Democratic Organization works to elevate the voices of the otherwise unheard. My donation was specifically to the 34th Ward Democratic Organization, not to any elected official or candidate’s re-election committee or personal funds.”

Austin is the chairman of the political fund.

  2 Comments      


When someone says Downstate is too stodgy, show them this

Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From the LaSalle County Democrats…

It’s Time rich,

Yes, It’s Time To Rock.

It’s the event of the season and it’s right around the corner. Author, playwright and and former Warhol film star, Penny Arcade brings “Longing Lasts Longer” direct from a sold-out run in NYC to LaSalle County exclusively to our October 5, 2019 fundraiser.

This show has played in 28 cities around the world including London, Sydney and Johannesburg. Billed as a rock and roll poetry event, Penny share her views on the state of society, politics and big city life. With seven books and 10 plays to her credit she is a force in contemporary performance art.

Opening the night is guitarist Kevin Kramer followed by the Ladies of Illusion. A blue-carpet, VIP after-party is available for those who would like to meet the artists. The after-party features a special set by rock and roll violinist Casey McGrath. Raffle items include a signed Peter Max “Toulouse Lautrec” print valued at $4000, a Scratch Goods skincare basket valued at $300, a tour from Awesome Ottawa Tours, a Moscow Mule and a Wine Enthusiast basket.

Tickets are available here.

Doors open at 7pm at Deer Park Golf Course in Oglesby, IL. General admission tickets are $40 and include hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. VIP tickets, which also include the after-party at Cat’s Eye Wine Bar in Ottawa, IL, are $75. The theme is Rock and Roll Glam so put on your best, blue rock wear!

We look forward to seeing you and thank you for supporting the LaSalle County Democrats. Please share with anyone who may be interested, it’s going to be a memorable night not to be missed.

Kind regards,

John Fisher-Dann

I did not make that up.

  18 Comments      


Firing up the Wayback Machine

Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From January of 2009

The Illinois House voted Friday to impeach disgraced Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich and send him to trial in the Senate with the aim of removing the two-term Democrat from state public office forever. […]

[The impeachment resolution] included the criminal charges against Blagojevich, which involved allegations that he sought to squeeze campaign contributions in exchange for official acts, such as signing a bill or providing reimbursement to a children’s hospital.

The children’s hospital never paid up, so there was no successful quid pro quo. But Blagojevich was nevertheless impeached for the offense, removed from office and convicted by a federal jury. The attempted shakedown itself was the crime. The hospital was considered a victim.

Hat tip to Kristen, whose tweet prompted me to look through the archives.

* Meanwhile, this is from shortly before the House impeachment vote

Lawmakers say the criminal charges that accuse Blagojevich of trying to sell or trade his official duties for campaign cash or other personal benefits call into question almost every action he now takes.

And their case for impeachment goes beyond criminal allegations. They say he abused the power of his office: bypassing the Legislature to create new programs he couldn’t pay for; circumventing hiring laws to give jobs to political allies; and misappropriating taxpayer funds.

“He has snubbed his nose at that oath of office and, therefore, snubbed his nose at the people and the constitution,” said Republican Rep. Mike Bost. “And it hurts tremendously to know that we have a chief executive officer [who] can’t realize the pain that his actions have caused the state of Illinois.”

Bost is now, of course, a US Representative.

* And this is from way before Blagojevich’s arrest: July of 2007

The feud between Gov. Rod Blagojevich and House Speaker Michael Madigan degenerated Saturday into an argument about who gets to set meeting times. […]

“I believe we should look into what it would take to see if he (Blagojevich) is to the point where impeachment proceedings should start,” said Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro. “I am dead serious.”

Again, that’s a year and a half before RRB was even arrested.

* Also from July of 2007

There’s a new website up for those of you who think that Gov. Blagojevich ought to be impeached. The domain Impeach Blagojevich is owned by Dennis LaComb, the executive director of the very conservative organization United Republican Fund.

Twice-failed statewide candidate Jim Oberweis is the group’s secretary

Oberweis is now a candidate for US Representative.

  15 Comments      


Unclear on the concept

Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Tribune

Senate President John Cullerton on Wednesday called the FBI raids on longtime Democratic state Sen. Martin Sandoval’s home and government offices “very troubling.”

“It doesn’t look good, but we don’t know what it’s about,” Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, said. “We don’t know if he’s the subject matter, but it looks like it’s a criminal investigation.” […]

“They’re still serving in the General Assembly, I think we should probably wait and see if Sen. Sandoval is the subject matter of the inquiry, right?” Cullerton said. “Let’s make some informed decisions after we see what happens. It’s too early to tell.”

Yeah, the feds secured search warrants for Sandoval’s district office, his Statehouse office and his house in order to find something on… somebody else?

C’mon, man.

  22 Comments      


“Quit the fighting and work it out”

Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Background is here if you need it. From Greg Hinz

Quit the fighting and work it out.

That’s the bottom-line message of an unusual letter sent today to Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and others that urges prompt approval of a proposed pilot program to boost transit ridership on the South Side and south suburbs by slashing fares on Metra’s electric and Rock Island lines. […]

As I reported in my column this week, the letter follows a surprisingly harsh attack on the proposed pilot by Lightfoot. Last week she said she’s willing to talk about something but fears this particular idea would have a “massive” economic impact on the Chicago Transit Authority.

* The letter

To Elected Leadership and Transportation Agency Executives:

Our organizations strongly support starting a demonstration project to improve public transit service on the south side of Chicago and South Suburbs. We encourage you to implement a pilot program to lower fares in the city to CTA levels on the Metra Electric and Rock Island lines, make fares more affordable in the South Suburbs, and offer low cost transfers between Metra Electric, Rock Island, Pace, and the CTA, as soon as possible.

Portions of the south side and South Suburbs are heavily dependent on mass transit, but often lack access to high quality, affordable, frequent transit service. Commute times for residents in the area are also longer than other parts of the region. These challenges have contributed to lower transit ridership and reduced access to opportunity. Testing new and improved mass transit services on the south side and South Suburbs is a good way to find long-term solutions to transportation problems that have persisted in the region for too long.

Preliminary analysis shows lower fares, free transfers, and improvements to Metra’s Electric and Rock Island routes are likely to increase overall transit ridership, reduce travel times, and may have a net positive revenue impact. These data-driven conclusions are promising and a demonstration project should be the next step, with appropriate mechanisms in place to help the individual transit agencies adapt to any short-term changes in revenue. A successful pilot should include an evaluation component to adjust the pilot project itself as well as inform further study and implementation of similar projects throughout the region.

This pilot program will require unprecedented coordination between Metra, CTA, Pace, and the RTA to be successful. Our region has struggled with offering integrated transit service, but this pilot program is an exciting opportunity to implement true fare integration, and offer seamless transfers between services. These are enormous benefits for users of the transit system and another reason all government agencies involved in transit should participate fully in this pilot.

Each of our organizations is excited about the potential benefits of this pilot program: this initiative can meaningfully improve the quality, affordability, sustainability, and equitability of our transportation system now. We stand ready to help you achieve these goals in any way we can and look forward to the successful launch of this project.

Sincerely,

Active Transportation Alliance • Chicago Jobs with Justice • Center for Neighborhood Technology • Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce • Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago • Coalition for a Modern Metra Electric • Environmental Law and Policy Center • Midwest High Speed Rail Association • Metropolitan Planning Council • International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (Transportation Division)

Discuss.

  17 Comments      


Neighboring industrial states starting to decline

Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Market Watch

The most sensitive manufacturing sectors are those that produce items whose purchase can be delayed until better economic times. Textbook examples of these sectors are cars and trucks, fleet vehicles, recreational vehicles, washer, dryers and other appliances, as well as business equipment. The production of many of these items, especially cars, trucks and RVs, are clustered in the industrialized Midwest states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

Manufacturing employment across the Midwest is now in decline. The two most manufacturing-intensive states in the nation, Wisconsin and Indiana, both have fewer factory jobs than at this point in 2018. Both Michigan and Ohio are six months into decline, and have fewer jobs than at the end of 2018. Only Illinois experienced factory job growth in 2019, and is up 400 jobs over the start of the year.

These states are ground zero in a trade war that has reduced the demand for steel and autos and led to a crushing, nearly 17% collapse in recreation vehicle sales this year.

Overall employment across the region is more stable. Only Indiana saw total employment down from the same month last year. Wisconsin and Ohio are close behind, with modest job losses since the start of the year. Both Michigan and Illinois are growing slowly over the year.

Though it may not be a formal recession, these states are almost certain to feel employment and income losses equivalent to a modest recession, say like in 1990-1991 or 2001.

400 ain’t much, but at least it isn’t a decline. Illinois has traditionally been one of the last states to slip into recession and among the last to emerge. Trouble is, for a variety of reasons (including the extreme uncertainty created by the impasse), Illinois has only recently emerged from the doldrums.

Also, this state’s fiscal condition has never been the same since the 2001 recession. On just about every aspect, Illinois peaked in Fiscal Year 2000.

  18 Comments      


Taiwan helps pick up the slack from lost Illinois ag sales to China

Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Tuesday press release…

Governor JB Pritzker announced today that Taiwan has made a $2.2 billion commitment to purchase Illinois corn and soybeans over the next two years.

“Illinois corn and soybean producers have cultivated a world-class industry with customers in all parts of the world, and this $2.2 billion commitment is a testament to their dedication and hard work,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “When Illinois’ agricultural economy thrives, so do working families all across the state. I’m committed to supporting our state’s leading industry and opening up new opportunities for our farmers to sell their goods and make a good living.”

Illinois and Taiwanese associations signed two $1.1 billion agreements to purchase Illinois crops between 2020 and 2021.

The Illinois Corn Marketing Board and the Taiwan Feed Industry Association signed a letter of intent marking Taiwan’s intentions to buy 5 million metric tons (equivalent to 197 million bushels) of corn and 0.5 million MT of corn co-products (distiller’s dried grains with solubles).

The Taiwan Vegetable Oil Manufacturers Association and the Illinois Soybean Association signed a letter of intent marking Taiwan’s intentions to buy between 2.6 million and 2.9 million MT (equivalent to between 96 million and 97 million bushels) of soybeans.

* One Illinois

China was not a major importer of Illinois corn before Trump launched his trade war last year, but the deal does much to replace the $1.3 billion in Illinois soybeans sold to China in 2017 — about a quarter of the state crop. Last year, retaliatory tariffs China imposed, along with the African swine fever outbreak that wiped out an estimated third of the country’s herd — eliminating much of the need for feed crops — cut those imports 91 percent to $116 million. Last year, by comparison, Taiwan bought just over $400 million in Illinois soybeans.

* Crain’s

“Lifeline? Really, that’s about what it is,” said Bobby Dowson, international marketing representative for the Illinois Department of Agriculture. “It’s hard to replace the 400-pound gorilla on the block.” […]

The U.S. Soybean Export Council has pushed for farmers to look for alternatives to the Chinese market. Both council CEO Jim Sutter and Chief Financial Officer Ray Young at Archer Daniels Midland doubt U.S. soy sales to China will recover to previous levels. […]

In addition to Taiwan, Mexico and the Dominican Republic are scooping up Illinois soybeans, Dowson said.

* Reuters

Some traders expressed skepticism at the deals, noting buyers generally do not make commitments with individual U.S. states and there was no legal language in the letter of intent that ensures the purchases will be made.

“There’s no guarantee, but they always have fulfilled what they’ve said they would do,” said Roger Sy, chairman of the Illinois Corn Marketing Board, who attended the signing in Chicago on Tuesday morning.

“So far, they’ve been a very reliable customer.”

  11 Comments      


Never tweet

Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Emphasis added to this retweet by the East Dundee Republican

I asked Rep. Skillicorn if he does, indeed, support a second Civil War. I’ll let you know what he says.

…Adding… Text exchange…

…Adding… From comments…

The irony of trying to claim “I didn’t see that” when at the same time complaining about having to pass something to read it.

…Adding… More from Skillicorn…

People are angry in IL. If the specials interests and politicians don’t get that average people are honked off because of fiscal mismanagement, blatant corruption, and moral decay they must live in an ivory tower. Specifically to the tweet, war is dumb. Violence is dumb, but so is the IL leadership that treats an entire state like its Chicago. I denounce the original tweeter’s civil war line but can still identify with anger and lack of trust in IL politics. I’ll also add that a retweet is a nothing-burger.

Um, the tweet wasn’t even about Illinois.

  40 Comments      


Vaping furor claims CEO’s job

Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* AP

Juul Labs will no longer promote its e-cigarettes in print, digital and TV advertisements and is replacing its CEO amid an escalating backlash against vaping nationwide.

The nation’s largest e-cigarette maker also pledged Wednesday not to lobby against a sweeping ban on vaping flavors proposed by the Trump administration earlier this month. […]

Juul quickly propelled itself to the top of the e-cigarette market with a combination of high-nicotine pods, dessert and fruit flavors and viral marketing. Today the San Francisco company controls roughly 70% of the U.S. e-cigarette market.

Since 2018 Juul has tried to head off a crackdown with a series of voluntary steps, halting retail stores of several flavors and shutting down its social media presence. But parents, politicians and public health advocates have continued to push for a broader crackdown.

Juul also supported Illinois’ ban on under-21 purchases of its products.

* Related…

* Illinois vaping ban: Lawmakers consider outlawing flavored vape products, e-cigarettes: “As a parent, anecdotally, it’s a problem of certifiable epidemic level,” said Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.

* While Will County health officials worry about vaping, sellers worry about overreaction: While cigarette smoking among Illinois high school seniors has decreased significantly over the past decade, between just 2016 and 2018, e-cigarette use in Illinois rose from 18.4% to 26.7% among the same population, a 45% increase, according to the IDPH.

* Local health officials, lawmakers address growing number of vaping illness cases: Doctors say the illnesses resemble an inhalation injury, with the lungs apparently reacting to a caustic substance. So far, no single vaping product or ingredient has been linked to the illnesses. Two-thirds of the cases involved 18- to 34-year-olds. Most are men.

* Flavored Vaping At The Center Of Illinois House Hearing: “As we allow these products to remain in the market, we know it fosters the opportunity for kids to access them and newly become addicted to nicotine. I have a lot of questions about the flavors in particular,” said Michelle Mussman (D-56th), who admitted that a vote on a flavor ban is some time away and said that banning a product might make people buy it illegally. “We do not want to push people into a black market to get a product that they believe is beneficial and safer than what they had started with and create a more unsafe situation,” Mussman said.

* Lawmakers hear about vape crisis: Illinois Department of Public Health Director Ngozi Ezike said more than 69 people experienced severe respiratory illness after vaping and another 13 may be added to the list. The state has seen one death. However, she also said nearly 80 percent of those were THC users, which means their illnesses may not have been caused by vaping nicotine products.

* Illinois Lawmakers Considering Ban On Flavored Vaping Products: Beyond the immediate health crisis, lawmakers are concerned about the rise in teen vaping. Although they passed legislation raising the age to purchase tobacco and vaping products to 21, they’re now considering a ban on the flavored e-cigarettes favored by young people.

* As state considers flavored vape ban, study finds most illnesses are drug-related: “45 million vapers in the world, it’s happening nowhere except for here so I think it’s pretty reasonable to say that something new has entered the market,” [Victoria Vasconcellos, of the pro-vaping Smoke Free Alternatives Coaltion of Illinois] said.

* Pritzker wants statewide ban on flavored e-cigarettes: Public health workers have not said the outbreak was caused by flavored e-cigarettes, or other products legally available at vape shops.

* Massachusetts bans all vaping products for 4 months

  16 Comments      


You don’t ever want to be pursued by Mary Ann Ahern

Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* NBC 5’s Mary Ann Ahern got a tip a while ago that Kieran Sheridan, the $175,000 per year Chief Operating Officer and Chief Development Officer of the Chicago Department of Aviation, was living in Naperville instead of the city. That would be a big no-no. So, Ahern and her team sprang into action after Sheridan told her he and his family were living separately

However, when NBC5 Investigates sent a letter to Sheridan at that Chicago address, it was returned two weeks later, marked “return to sender.”

NBC5’s political reporter Mary Ann Ahern then visited the Chicago apartment and confirmed with building managers that Sheridan did, indeed, pay rent on an apartment there. The managers accompanied Ahern as she slid a second letter from NBC 5 under Sheridan’s apartment door, where she observed other papers stuffed in the door which had not yet been retrieved.

NBC 5 Investigates searched public databases and uncovered several documents which all pointed to Sheridan’s residence in a Naperville subdivision called Windgate of Three Farms, including mortgage papers, a property deed, tax bills, incorporation records for an independent consulting company and a driving citation, all of which listed the Naperville residence as his home.

One document posed the question “will the [Naperville] property be the buyer’s principal residence?” and Sheridan answered “yes” on the document.

Oops.

And then they staked him out

On two separate occasions over the last month, NBC 5 cameras recorded Sheridan leaving his Naperville home, each time wearing his Chicago Department of Aviation I.D. card around his neck. In both instances Sheridan then drove to his office at O’Hare.

Sheridan resigned yesterday. Watch Ahern’s report here.

Also, props to the mayor’s press team for burying that item on a very busy news day.

…Adding… I forgot to post this response from a Naperville legislator…


  44 Comments      


It’s not necessarily the out-migration, it’s the in-migration drop

Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Cecilia Reyes and Patrick M. O’Connell at the Tribune

Interestingly, if you look only at the rate of people leaving one state for another, Illinois doesn’t particularly stand out. Illinois ranked No. 21 — near the middle of the pack — on the rate of domestic out-migration in 2017, the most recent year for which those estimates are available. […]

Census data shows that since 2013, in-migration has been decreasing in Illinois with out-migration mostly rising.

In 2017, an estimated 266,000 people reported they had moved to Illinois in the last year, which is 9% fewer than the 292,000 estimated arrivals in 2013. The number of people who arrived from other states rather than from abroad declined even more steeply, from more than 223,000 to about 195,000.

Combine migration losses with an aging population, declining birth rates and stagnated international migration, and the result is decreased population.

The whole story is well-researched and debunks some myths, many of which have been perpetuated by the paper’s own editorial board. Go read it all. Facts are crucial when making policy decisions. Relying on politically charged rhetoric doesn’t usually work too well in that arena.

  29 Comments      


Sandoval raid roundup

Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Tribune

Investigators are looking into allegations [Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-Chicago] used his official position to steer business to at least one company in exchange for kickbacks, a source with knowledge of the case told the Chicago Tribune. […]

Shortly after 12:30 p.m., at least eight men left the Senate Democratic offices carrying cardboard boxes, two brown bags labeled “evidence” and what appeared to be a desktop computer wrapped in plastic. News cameras rolled as the agents left the building, loaded the material into two SUVs and drove off.

At about the same time nearly 200 miles away, agents executed search warrants at Sandoval’s district office in the 5800 block of West 35th Street in Cicero, as well as his longtime family home in Gage Park, sources told the Tribune.

A man who answered the door at Sandoval’s brick, three-story building Tuesday said the legislator was not home. Later, two officials with duty belts and handcuffs came out of the home to get wheeled hand trucks, taking them inside. One identified himself as from the IRS criminal division.

The presence of the IRS is perhaps most ominous.

* Illinois Public Radio

Chicago-based FBI spokesman John Althen refused to confirm the target of the raid or say what it was about.

“All I can say at this point is we are engaged in an authorized law enforcement activity. Beyond that, we’ve got no further comment,” Althen said by phone. Asked if agents from Chicago were in the Capitol building, he said “they’re present, yes.”

At least eight men in suits left the Capitol carrying two cardboard boxes, several brown bags labeled “evidence,” and what appeared to be a desktop computer wrapped in plastic. They loaded the items into an SUV and left without speaking to reporters.

Calls to Sandoval’s Capitol and district offices were not returned Tuesday. A spokesman for Senate President John Cullerton also declined to comment.

* Mark Brown

It’s not that he wasn’t already high on everyone’s list of Most Likely to Get Caught on an FBI Wiretap. His fellow legislators would have put him on the top of the list. […]

What has to concern Illinois Democrats right now is Sandoval’s very prominent role as a chief negotiator of the state’s newly enacted $45 billion infrastructure improvement program — and the gas tax increase and pork barrel projects that go with it.

They’re counting on that money, and the expected political benefits that go with the projects.

The last thing they need is for the problems of one of its architects to put a stink on the whole program — and them along with it.

Yep.

* Sun-Times

Asked about the Sandoval raid Tuesday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot called it “interesting.”

“We have been hearing for a long time that the federal investigation is of longstanding and has a lot of different tentacles,” Lightfoot said. “Certainly, I paid attention that the outgoing [special agent in charge] of the FBI essentially said, ‘More to come.’ So, it looks like there’s more to come.”

Lightfoot said she is “not surprised” by the raid. But she has “no specific knowledge about Sandoval one way or another.”

* ABC 7

Business owners near his district office were surprised by the raids.

“We saw the cameras coming up over here,” said Harry Lamiot, Dell Plumbing Company. “To tell you the truth we never see him, very much of him, they are kind of private it seems, at least for us.”

* CBS 2

People in Sandoval’s neighborhood say they know he lives there, but they don’t see him much. They say he mainly keeps to himself.

Odd.

* Center Square

University of Illinois Chicago State Politics Professor Christopher Mooney said while the story of the raid on Sandoval’s office may reinforce the perception of corruption in Illinois, it might not make much of a splash outside the state’s political circles.

“If those are all connected into some grand case, indictments of several high-profile politicos, yeah, then people will pay attention to that,” Mooney said. “Maybe not so much outside the state, but certainly within the state.”

Mooney said Madigan has not been linked directly to any investigation.

“I have heard people say, ‘oh, they’re trying to get close to Madigan,’ but of course we’ve heard that from time to time from the media for the last 40 years and it hasn’t happened,” he said.

But, if that speculation pans out, the story will likely be huge.

“If this becomes the thing finally that ends the Madigan regime, it will be historic,” Mooney said.

* Related…

* VIDEO: Federal agents search office of state Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-Chicago, in Springfield

  32 Comments      


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Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

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*** LIVE COVERAGE ***

Wednesday, Sep 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Follow along with ScribbleLive


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* Pritzker calls some of Bears proposals 'probably non-starters,' refuses to divert state dollars intended for other purposes (Updated)
* Isabel’s afternoon roundup
* Friends of the Parks responds to Bears’ lakefront stadium proposal
* It’s just a bill
* Judge rejects state motion to move LaSalle Veterans' Home COVID deaths lawsuit to Court of Claims
* Learn something new every day
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* Need something to read? Try these Illinois-related books
* Illinois Hospitals Are Driving Economic Activity Across Illinois: $117.7B Annually And 445K Jobs
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