Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Protected: Details of today’s EXTRA (use same password as the one in today’s Capitol Fax)

Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Enter your password to view comments

Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

ISMIE portrayed this ruling as somewhat of a victory yesterday, claiming that the state had essentially upheld its prior rates. The other side is also claiming victory, however.

Using a new law designed to lower doctors’ costs, state regulators on Tuesday ordered Illinois’ major malpractice insurer to start bringing down rates next year and open itself to more public scrutiny.

ISMIE Mutual Insurance Co. criticized the order as a bad precedent that will interfere with its day-to-day operations. But the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association said it suggests regulators have concerns about how the insurer sets rates.

The order comes as part of a new law meant to lower rapidly rising insurance rates that were forcing some Illinois doctors out of business. The law combines new limits on malpractice lawsuits with stronger state regulation of insurers and doctors.

The state Division of Insurance approved ISMIE’s proposal to keep its overall rates flat this year after large increases in recent years.

But the agency ordered the company to hold its rates steady next year, too, and aim to reduce them by 3.5 percent if that is financially feasible.

Insurance Director Michael McRaith also ordered ISMIE to give more money back to some doctors through dividends and education programs and to provide more information about how it devises its rates.

5 Comments

More reform and renewal

Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Oy.

Despite falling short of its original promise, the Blagojevich administration has renewed a contract with a politically connected company it hired to sell state sponsorships.

The Illinois Department of Central Management Services recently inked Maryland-based Team Services LLC to a two-year contract extension calling for the company to continue finding businesses willing to pay for the opportunity to place company names on state property and programs.

When originally conceived, the administration talked of generating tens of millions of dollars by selling off the rights to everything from an official state beverage to space on state park maps.

The company received $459,638 for its work in the program’s first two years. The state says Team Services is responsible for generating $1.1 million in revenue for the state. That means the program has resulted in a net gain to taxpayers of just $674,612. […]

CMS spokesman Justin DeYoung said the state renegotiated terms of the contract to eliminate a $15,000 per month retainer fee that Team Services had charged in the first two years of the pact.

Now, the company, which is operated by a former business associate of the governor’s former chief of staff, will work for a 15 percent commission on the amount of corporate sponsorships it generates for the state.

That last paragraph sums up what’s so often wrong with this administration: the lethal combination of cronyism and incompetence. At least they changed the contract’s terms (after doling out 450 large).

13 Comments

People in my thoughts

Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Â· Corinne Wood just called. The former lt. governor and state rep. asked me to tell everyone who’ve sent cards, letters, flowers, etc. during her latest battle with cancer that she really appreciated “their well-wishes and their support and their prayers.” Wood said she has “great doctors doing some cutting edge treatments.” Her voice sounded very strong and she was in good spirits. We’re all pulling for you, Corinne.

Â· My pal Rob Winchester lives in Jerome. His house was damaged in Sunday’s tornado (although, thankfully, not as badly damaged as he originally thought). “I would thank you and everyone for any prayers and well wishes,” he writes. You’ve got it, Rob.

Â· The tornado tore the heck out of Jerome, and the Jerome Prophet Blog has been down ever since. I sent JP an e-mail yesterday and he wrote back today. He’s back to work, thankful that he and his family (and everyone else) are alive and well, but still has no power and doesn’t think he’ll be blogging in the very near future. Send him some love.

Be very kind in comments, please.

UPDATE: Marie at Disarranging Mine thankfully came through OK, too.

6 Comments

A fight for second place?

Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

A roundup from the Tribune:

Oberweis, an Aurora businessman who regularly speaks about his opposition to illegal immigration, responded Tuesday to a reporter who asked him to clarify his comments Monday to supporters that he didn’t “believe that the government should be forced to print multiple languages of anything.”

“I don’t think that we should have to print ballots in multiple languages,” Oberweis said Tuesday, “but it’s not a passion issue, it’s not one I go to sleep worrying about.” […]

In Springfield, Brady said the latest poll numbers show his campaign must get to the undecided Republican voters, who he believes are conservative. He held a news conference announcing the Senate Republican Caucus would oppose the use of taxpayer money to fund embryonic stem cell research for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1. […]

Gidwitz also released a new television commercial, running statewide, that reverses his campaign’s trend of ads criticizing his Republican opponents. The newest ad promotes Gidwitz’s record as a businessman and former head of the Illinois State Board of Education.

30 Comments

Protected: Subscriber-only morning shorts (password is in today’s Capitol Fax)

Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Enter your password to view comments

Question of the day

Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

As I noted below, 1,548 Springfield homes were damaged by Sunday night’s storm and 1,000 may be uninhabitable. Many are still without power.

Despite this, the General Assembly went ahead with session this week, clogging hotel rooms with legislators, lobbyists and citizens group members in town for the festivities. As a result, some Springfieldians are finding it difficult to book hotel rooms to get away from their damaged and/or powerless homes.

On the other hand, session always means big dollars for Springfield, which needs all the cash it can get right now.

The question is, do you think the General Assembly should have called off session this week?

25 Comments

Really bad news for that Greek guy

Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

This is a very bad day for Alexi Giannoulias. First, the Tribune ran a very unflattering story:

Bank loans to a Chicago crime figure have become an unlikely campaign issue in the Democratic primary race for Illinois treasurer. […]

Broadway Bank had lent millions of dollars to Chicago crime figure Michael Giorango, who has been convicted twice of federal bookmaking charges and also of promoting a nationwide prostitution operation.

And then it gets worse.

But Giannoulias said that since he became a full-time senior loan officer, he has met Giorango at the bank “a few” times.

He described Giorango as “a very nice person” and questioned whether Giorango actually was a criminal. “Is he a crime figure?” Giannoulias asked. “I don’t know what the charges are that makes him this huge crime figure.”

Nicknamed “Jaws,” Giorango pleaded guilty in 1989 to helping direct a south suburban bookmaking ring that used threats of bombings, beatings and robbery to collect unpaid debts. Then in 1991, he was convicted of additional gambling and tax violations stemming from his role in a separate bookmaking operation overseen by Chicago Heights gambling boss Dominic Barbaro.

In 2004, federal prosecutors convicted him of promoting the Circuit, a nationwide prostitution ring, by encouraging Miami madam Judy Krueger to have prostitutes work from one of his hotels and by using the women to entertain and entice his business associates.

Oy.

And then the Tribune uses that story as a big reason for endorsing Paul Mangieri.

More troubling, some of the bank’s business dealings have come into question. As the Tribune reports today, the bank has lent millions of dollars to a Chicago crime figure who has been convicted on federal bookmaking charges and of promoting a prostitution operation. Giannoulias’ answers about these deals are incomplete.

Giannoulias’ very brief work experience and the unanswered questions about Broadway Bank raise some caution. The Tribune endorses Paul Mangieri in the Democratic primary for treasurer, based on his record of strong ethical standards as a county prosecutor.

The Republicans will have a field day with this if Alexi wins the primary.

35 Comments

SGOPs against guv’s stem cell bill

Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Despite a recent poll that showed 69 percent of voters favor the idea, the Senate Republicans unanimously rejected Gov. Blagojevich’s stem cell research proposal yesterday. Bill Brady led the charge.

A group of Senate Republicans threatened Tuesday to block passage of this yearâ€™s budget if it contains funding for stem cell research. All 27 Senate Republicans signed a letter to Gov. Rod Blagojevich opposing the governorâ€™s proposal to use $15 million for embryonic stem cell research. Currently, $10 million is set aside for that purpose.

Blagojevich has proposed using at least $100 million over five years from state tobacco settlement funds for stem cell research grants.

â€œIt is wrong to exploit human life for research purposes,â€ said state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger, R-Elgin, who is running for lieutenant governor. â€œTo purposefully create human life to exploit it is just wrong.â€ […]

State Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, said support from across the aisle would effectively defeat legislation regarding stem cell research.

40 percent of Republicans supported the proposal in that poll, while 51 percent were opposed.

UPDATE: This story has not been getting any play at all. But it is an important part of the stem cell debate:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich quietly filed an executive order that essentially eliminates legislative oversight of his controversial stem cell research grant program, The News-Gazette has learned.

When the General Assembly failed to pass a bill for state-funded stem cell research last spring, Blagojevich circumvented the legislative process and issued an executive order creating the Illinois Regenerative Institute for Stem Cell Research.

The July 2005 executive order required the Illinois Department of Public Health to adopt rules for the issuance and administration of stem cell research grants, funded by $10 million that had been hidden in the budget under the vague description of “scientific research.”

Those rules would have had to have been approved by the General Assembly’s Joint Commission on Administrative Rules, a panel made up of equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats from the House and Senate.

A new executive order, filed on Feb. 10, amended the old executive order by eliminating the requirement that rules be adopted to govern the grant program.

15 Comments

Stroger roundup

Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Â· Sun-Times:

Unable to walk, slightly disoriented and slurring his speech, the 76-year-old was alert Tuesday evening but will likely spend the final days of the campaign in a hospital bed, as Democratic Party leaders ponder whether Stroger will eventually have to be replaced on the ballot.

It also caused Stroger’s primary opponent, Forrest Claypool, to pull anti-Stroger ads in favor of those touting Claypool’s own record. Claypool canceled Tuesday night appearances as he wished Stroger a quick recovery. It remained unclear how the illness will affect Claypool’s campaign. […]

But Simon said he would advise Stroger to avoid campaigning and it could be a month or more before Stroger can go back on the job.

Â· Tribune:

Now, Stroger’s campaign must grapple with convincing the public that their candidate remains fit enough to serve a fourth term.

Bruce Washington, Stroger’s campaign manager, said the campaign strategy would not change even with Stroger in the hospital.

“The campaign is fully engaged and aggressively moving forward with a plan that has been structured,” Washington said late Tuesday. “We’re not changing anything. There’s no issue as far as what the campaign is going to do. […]

Stroger’s illness similarly presents a dilemma for Claypool’s campaign, which must continue to chip away at Stroger’s lead without seeming insensitive or opportunistic. […]

Axelrod said that as a result of Stroger’s condition, he moved up by a day a new Claypool TV ad, one that features Claypool and highlights his newspaper endorsements. The ad replaced one that mocked Stroger’s attack ads and hammered the board president’s record on taxation and management of the county’s health system.

Daily Herald:

Simon, who is also on the county payroll as executive chairman of emergency medicine for the Cook County Bureau of Health Services, said he advised Stroger to go to Rush because all of Strogerâ€™s records are there, because Simon is on staff there and because Rush has expertise in handling stroke sufferers.

Mark Brown:

It seems cold to reduce Cook County Board President John Stroger’s health to the political calculus of the moment, so let’s begin by wishing him a complete and speedy recovery. But when you look at the calendar, there’s really no avoiding the politics of it. […]

Will there be a sympathy vote for Stroger?

Probably some.

Will there be voters who had planned to vote for him who change their minds because of questions about his ability to carry out his duties?

That seems likely, too. […]

It was somewhat disappointing, but not that surprising given past history, that the first confirmation of Stroger’s stroke came at 5 p.m. from Simon, 12 hours after Stroger was first taken from his home to a nearby hospital by Chicago Fire Department paramedics.

Then Stroger’s staff said he had been discharged from that hospital — initially neglecting to mention that he was being transferred to Rush.

While reporters waited in the lobby at Rush for word on Stroger’s condition, his people kept giving reassurances that all his tests had come back “normal,” failing to mention that he’d had a stroke.

CBS2:

The political fallout from County Board President John H. Stroger Jr.’s stroke is huge and far reaching. To say that it could change the future of Cook County is an understatement.

Your turn.

UPDATE: Stroger will stay in the hospital for at least a week.

Cook County Board President John Stroger will likely remain hospitalized next week when voters go to the polls, according to an update issued by Rush University Medical Center

23 Comments

Morning shorts

Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Â· State Journal-Register’s website still being slammed by high traffic because of their storm coverage. They’ve put up a temporary home page to deal with the huge demand. You can find photo gallery links at that page. Meanwhile, the SJ-R reports that 1,548 homes were damaged by the storm and 1,000 of them are uninhabitable.

Â· Record low number of voters registered in Chicago. At least dating back to 1942 and maybe since the ’20s, when women got the vote.

Â· Lt. governor race roundup.

Â· Tribune profiles Duckworth.

Â· Kadner: “In a year full of dark news about corruption in Illinois politics, there has been one ray of sunshine.”

Â· Daily Illini editor fired over cartoon.

Â· Dems hope to take GOP spots on Will County board.

Â· Hey, Tribsters, if you have a political bloggy type thing, aren’t you supposed to update it every now and then? As of this morning, no posts in three days.

Â· Guv hopefuls avoided the spotlight yesterday, stayed in their offices. Strange.

Â· Line of the day, from Carol Marin: “Gidwitz is like a good shampoo in a bad bottle.”

Â· More later.

Â· Republicans gather to rally troops, mock governor.

Â· Potentially big story on Exelon’s power auction proposal.

Â· Rauschenberger in major hot water with the Elk Grove Township GOP. (Scroll down for story.)

Â· Freakonomics Blog: â€œCreativeâ€ use of data by death penalty proponents.

Â· Everyone’s entitled to their opinions, which is why I rarely criticize a columnist. But this guy should probably not quit his day job.

Finally, thereâ€™s a woman named Debra Shore who is running for Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. In her literature she notes that even her name, Shore, bespeaks her watery commitment. I wonder how she would handle her last name if it was Sewage?

Unintentionally hilarious stuff. Read it all.

Â· What he said. Eisendrath is such an embarassment.

Â· Cal has a good post at Illinoize today.

4 Comments

Protected: Subscriber-only afternoon shorts (please use all upper-case) - UPDATED

Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Enter your password to view comments

Notice to all Illinois bloggers and commenters

Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Fox News Chicago has invited me to appear on their election night program. It will run from 9pm until 11pm.

I’m going to be doing some instant analysis stuff, but part of the schtick will be reporting on what the blogs are saying around the state and what commenters are saying right here.

This will obviously be a great opportunity to hype the Capitol Fax Blog and Illinoize, but it will also introduce people to lots of other blogs and bloggers throughout the state. I strongly encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity. Please, live blog election night, especially between 9 and 11. And try to give me a heads up about what you plan to do in advance.

There is a lot of talent out there, and we’ve been given an opportunity to showcase it on election night. I also think it’s fantastic that a mainstream media outlet is taking interest in what’s going on in the blog world. Kudos to them.

I’m also scheduled to do the Illinois Radio Network that night, and the station has said they’ll provide me with a phone hookup for that gig. Should be busy, but lots of fun.

29 Comments

Question of the day

Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

We’re not going to do a single question of the day today. Instead, we’re going to look at various aspects of the Chicago Tribune’s latest poll. Let’s start with the Republican governor’s race. Scroll down for the other contests.

With one week until the March 21 primary election, a survey of 600 likely Republican voters found Topinka with the support of 36 percent, compared with 21 percent for businessman Jim Oberweis, 15 percent for state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington and 9 percent for businessman Ron Gidwitz. Another 18 percent said they were undecided, 1 percent said they supported perennial candidate Andy Martin and 1 percent said they backed another candidate. […]

Last month, Topinka and Oberweis were each getting the support of about one-quarter of very conservative voters. That prompted Oberweis to attempt to distinguish himself as a conservative while he labeled the socially moderate Topinka as a “liberal.”

Yet the poll found that despite Oberweis’ aggressive efforts, Brady has been the beneficiary.

Please read the whole thing before commenting, then have at it.

62 Comments

Stroger up

Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Notice that this is the first time that the Tribune has published a poll on the county board president’s race. I figured that meant their last poll had Stroger with a huge lead. Maybe I’m just cynical.

The poll of 475 Cook County registered voters likely to cast ballots in the Democratic primary showed Stroger leading Claypool 47 percent to 37 percent. The survey was conducted Wednesday through Sunday by Market Shares Corp. of Mt. Prospect and has an error margin of 5 percentage points.

The poll showed that although a plurality of voters have a favorable impression of Stroger and believe he is doing a good job, his favorability and job approval numbers are below 50 percent, an indication of vulnerability for an incumbent.

Among city voters, Stroger holds a 19 percentage point lead, while Claypool has a 6 point lead in the suburbs. Three-fourths of black voters say they prefer Stroger, who is black, while 54 percent of white voters say they support Claypool, who is white.

Stroger’s 41 percent job approval rating in the suburbs is only 4 percentage points below his countywide rating, an indication Claypool has not fully made a case for change among a portion of the electorate whose support he badly needs.

No kidding.

UPDATE: Bill Clinton appears in Stroger radio ads.

UPDATE: You all know by now that Stroger is in the hospital. Let’s keep the rumors to a minimum, shall we? I’m going to go back and delete a few comments here because they are just too over the top. We’ll all know more soon. (And for crying out loud, people, the man is in the hospital, so let’s keep the nastiness at bay.)

30 Comments

Does it really matter any more?

Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

EE is such a disappointment.

On the Democratic side, Blagojevich has seen a slight increase in his favorability since last month’s poll, which may be an indication of the success of his TV ad campaign. Blagojevich also has refused to engage Eisendrath directly in public debate, denying the challenger the potential for wider publicity for his low-visibility candidacy.

A month ago, Blagojevich led Eisendrath 62 percent to 18 percent. Since then, Eisendrath’s support has been static while Blagojevich has gained 5 percentage points.

23 Comments

That Greek guy is ahead of that other guy

Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Tribune poll results for treasurer.

In the other contested statewide primary on the Democratic ballot, the race for treasurer, the poll indicated Chicago banker Alexi Giannoulias has benefited from ads featuring the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Benefiting from a 33 percentage point boost in name recognition, Giannoulias has the support of 31 percent of Democratic voters compared to 17 percent for Paul Mangieri, the Knox County state’s attorney and the slated candidate of the state Democratic Party.

Still, 51 percent of the voters said they were undecided in the contest.

43 Comments

Lite guv

Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Boxer whipping wonk. Here are the Trib’s numbers for the lieutenant governor’s primary.

In the Republican contest for lieutenant governor, the poll showed DuPage County State’s Atty. Joe Birkett with support from 36 percent of likely voters and state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger of Elgin with 18 percent, while 41 percent were undecided. Kane County Recorder Sandy Wegman had 3 percent, attorney Lawrence Bruckner had 2 percent, and 1 percent backed another candidate.

Discuss.

19 Comments

Morning shorts

Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Â· Cook County smoking ban moving fast.

Â· Another Chicago investigation.

Â· Springfield storm photos. Here and here.

Â· Cheney raised $200K for Roskam. Here’s another story on the visit.

Â· Good roundup of 8th CD GOP primary race.

Â· Syverson talks about the budget.

Â· Bill Brady opposes hospital charity requirements proposed by Lisa Madigan. The legislation appears dead for this year. Meanwhile, Urbana’s Provena Covenant Medical Center waits to see if its tax exempt status is restored.

Â· Congressman Jerry Weller made 11 foreign trips lasting a combined 44 days “one to Canada and the rest to 14 nations in Central and South America, including Columbia three times. Taxpayers picked up a tab of about $24,562, including Weller’s pro rata share of delegation expenses.”

Â· Lindy Scott profiled.

Â· Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar won’t run for re-election as chairman of the DuPage Township Republican Party? He has reportedly endorsed DuPage Township Supervisor Bill Mayer as his successor.

Â· Missed it. Cathleen Falsani interviewed Studs Terkel at Borders.

Â· To say these two are longshots would be kind.

6 Comments

36-21-15-9

Monday, Mar 13, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

The Tribune runs its last poll of the season.

Among the Democrats, Blagojevich has the support of 67 percent of voters who were polled compared with 18 percent for challenger Edwin Eisendrath, a former Chicago alderman. Another 14 percent are undecided, and 2 percent say they would vote for someone else. Since February’s poll, Blagojevich’s standing gained 5 percentage points while Eisendrath’s remained the same. […]

The poll found 36 percent of voters — who are likely to cast a Republican ballot supporting — Topinka. Oberweis was favored by 21 percent while 15 percent backed Bill Brady, a state senator from Bloomington. Another 9 percent voted for Chicago businessman Ron Gidwitz, 1 percent for Internet journalist Andy Martin and 18 percent were still undecided. […]

Separately, a different poll of 475 registered Cook County voters likely to vote in the Democratic primary has John Stroger, a 12-year incumbent, with a 10 percentage-point lead over challenger Forrest Claypool in a contest for the Democratic nomination for Cook County Board President. The poll, which has an error margin of 5 percentage points, shows Stroger with 47 percent. Tony Peraica, the GOP candidate for board president, is unchallenged.

Check out those Gidwitz numbers. I’ll have more on that in tomorrow’s Capitol Fax.

UPDATE: Comments are now closed on this post. See above for poll stories.

28 Comments

Jones fundraiser will be held tonight

Monday, Mar 13, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

I’ve had more than a few requests to find out if Senate President Emil Jones’ big Springfield fundraiser tonight will still be held - considering the tornado damage to the town. The answer is yes. That part of town was spared, from what I understand.

UPDATE: Should’ve pointed this out before, but session will continue as scheduled.

Comments Off

Disaster area declared

Monday, Mar 13, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

From a press release:

Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today declared seven Illinois counties state disaster areas following a round of storms that moved quickly through the area this weekend, causing severe damage and approximately two dozen minor injuries. While staff with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) is still assessing the damage, no fatalities have been reported as of mid-day Monday, March 13, 2006.

UPDATE:Wow:

Statement as of 12:32 PM EST on March 13, 2006

record event report
National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL
1130 am Mon Mar 13 2006

… Record peak wind gust set at Moline…

A record peak wind gust of 107 mph was set at 7:48 PM Sunday March
12th at the Quad City Airport in Moline Illinois.

The previous peak wind gust was 81 mph set on August 21 1987.

(Via Drudge and a hat tip to a friend))

UPDATE: Promoted from comments:

When the new Emergency Ops Center was opened earlier this year, reporters asked the Governor, since he spent all his time in Chicago, how much time would he ever spend at the EOC in Springfield. Now we know: he didnâ€™t get down there until Noon, and he didnâ€™t fly direct to the helipad they built for him, but to the airport first.

The press room at the EOC apparently was not photogenic enough for him to make the formal disaster declaration, so he led the press on a 1-hour side trip only so he could pose in front of wrecked buildings to make the announcement there.

After his 20-some-hour performance on the air, harking back to David Sarnoff on top of the department store, Jim Leach could run for governor and win Sangamon county easy. He really held this town together last night, and the Midwest Radio Group is to be commended for their great team coverage all thru the night and into the daylight. While the big corporate Clear Channel stations ran on autopilot most of the night, Leach and crew were the vital central link for citizens, and some of the credit for there being no fatalities should go to them for their ample and detailed warning bulletins. Bravo, you guys.

14 Comments

Question of the afternoon

Monday, Mar 13, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Sorry this was delayed today. Still trying to catch up after last night.

What do you think should be the over/under on Edwin Eisendrath’s primary results? Pick the over/under level and say which side you’re betting on.

15 Comments

Afternoon shorts

Monday, Mar 13, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Â· David Phelps on Rod Blagojevich: “When he is re-elected, there will be a mass exodus of Republicans from the state payroll.”

Â· You can find the 100-plus page jury instructions for the George Ryan trial here. Be warned, this is a large pdf file. The last 8 pages or so is the jury voting checkoff list.

Â· Southside Irish Parade spectators cheer as Dan Lipinski’s parade float burns. Very funny little tidbit.

Â· Chuck Goudie writes about Rick Garcia and the hate commission. Meanwhile, Askia Muhammad defends Farrakhan and Sister Claudette Marie Muhammad: “Farrakhan does not hate Jewish people. He does not teach hatred of Jews.”

Â· Yard sign wars continue in Proviso Township.

Â· ArchPundit has more on that Weller office quote about the African-American vote.

Â· Good column about Cicero politics by Ray Hanania.

Â· Belleville News-Democrat whacks Blagojevich again.

Â· Klau hires Parrillo. Great move.

Â· I missed the parade this year, and after reading this story I’m really bummed about my mistake.

11 Comments

Gun shop, convicted felon got loans from state treasurer candidate’s bank

Monday, Mar 13, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Greg Hinz has a new column up about Giannoulias. It’s not pretty stuff.

On his campaign Web site, Illinois treasurer hopeful Alexi Giannoulias describes himself as “a banker â€” a community banker, to be more precise.” It’s an indication that Mr. Giannoulias’ job as vice-president and chief loan officer at Chicago’s Broadway Bank is his main credential in running to become one of the state’s two elected fiscal officers.

I understand why Mr. Giannoulias plays up the credential. “Community” implies little guys struggling to buy three-flats in Edgewater and start up businesses in Uptown â€” something Mr. Giannoulias says indeed has been accomplished by himself and his father, who founded Broadway Bank in the late 1970s. “Banker” suggests financial savvy, a point the Web site underlines in reporting that Crain’s “has ranked Broadway Bank as the No. 1 bank in Illinois for the past four years based on return on assets.”

Indeed, we did. Good things surely do happen at Mr. Giannoulias’ bank. But there are a few other things voters might want to know before putting a 29-year-old Democrat who never has held government office in charge of investing $7 billion of your money each year.

Like how Broadway Bank financed property used for a gun store so notorious that it was sued by Mayor Richard M. Daley and finally shut down by federal authorities. Or how the bank lent money to a crime figure convicted of running a national prostitution ring to buy land in Florida. Not to mention the Texas lawsuit that contends Mr. Giannoulias and the bank “extorted” a nearly $100,000 loan fee. And the $5,000 campaign donation Mr. Giannoulias returned after revelations that the donor bought a fleet of gambling boats from a group including indicted Washington, D.C., lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Apparently “community” is an expansive term.

26 Comments

Shelden walks

Monday, Mar 13, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Champaign County Clerk Mark Shelden makes good on his threat to walk out of Jim Oberweis’ Lincoln Day speech.

Well, I did walk out, and a small number of people followed. Iâ€™m glad I did. One Oberweis supporter suggested that I won votes for Oberweis, and perhaps I did. I think that what I said in the last few days hopefully swayed some people and made people realize that Jim Oberweis is not the face we want to put on the Republican Party in Illinois.

What was most fascinating was the Oberweis-Shelden debate prior to the dinner starting. One of his supporters, and a good friend of mine, brought Oberweis over to me, Iâ€™m guessing in an attempt to keep me from taking this stand. Instead what I got was confirmation of what I so dislike about Mr. Oberweis.

And Oberweis made an incredibly tasteless remark over the weekend.

Taking questions from locals in Downstate Godfrey, Oberweis was asked about federal government requirements placed on farmers to brand their animals. Oberweis reminded them about his tough stance against illegal immigration.

“If we as a government can track all of our animals, why can’t we track our terrorists? Why can’t we track illegal aliens?” he asked.

The audience of about 150 people laughed and clapped.

Later, Oberweis said he was being facetious in making his comments about tracking illegal immigrants. “It was a joke. I was kidding. The U.S. Department of Agriculture thing, that is not something that the governor of Illinois is going to be involved with in any way,” he said. “It was a joke, for gosh sakes.”

UPDATE: The News-Gazette blog has a list of those who walked out on Oberweis: County Clerk Mark Shelden, Circuit Clerk Linda Frank, County Board member Deb Feinen and Savoy Village Board member Joahn Dykstra

37 Comments

New morning

Monday, Mar 13, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Power’s back on, cable modem is working and a quick check doesn’t turn up much storm damage. Hope all my subscribers and blog readers made it through OK.

How did you come out of it?

UPDATE: From a press release:

Last night Springfield and other communities throughout Central Illinois and the Metro East suffered damage from severe storms and tornadoes. The State Emergency Operation Center in Springfield was activated last night. Staff has been on duty overnight and will continue coordinating with local officials today.

Governor Rod R. Blagojevich this morning has instructed State agencies to coordinate with the City of Springfield and provide to help restore power and services.

â€œResidents in Central Illinois suffered a devastating storm last night. While local officials and our State emergency teams are still assessing the extent of the damage, I want to assure the people of Springfield that we will commit whatever State assistance is needed to help get their city up and running again,â€ said the Governor.

Because of damage and loss of power at several State office buildings in Springfield, the Stateâ€™s Continuation of Operation and Continuation of Government Plans have been activated and non-essential state employees in Springfield are not required to report to work today. Only personnel previously identified by their agencies as essential in emergency circumstances are required to report to work.

UPDATE 2: The State Journal Register website is being slammed by all the visits. Here’s the latest update:

Last Updated 3/13/2006 10:01:39 AM

A strong, long-lived tornado was responsible for much of the damage that wrecked Springfield homes and businesses Sunday night, the National Weather Service in Lincoln has confirmed.

NWS survey crews are scouring the area to look at the damage and try to estimate what the wind speeds were, said Ed Shimon of the National Weather Service in Lincoln.

“It was a tornado. We had a visual sighting of it approaching the city and also as it went through,” he said. “It was on the ground causing a tornado or almost causing a tornado all the way from Kansas City. It was an extremely long-lived storm. It would strengthen, have a tornado and then it would weaken again.”

Sangamon County officials have declared as disaster areas the portions of Sangamon County where the storm moved through beginning about 8:15 p.m. The storm tracked roughly from New Berlin in western Sangamon County, through the southwest and central parts of Springfield and east toward Illiopolis.

Officials have estimated millions of dollars in damage to area homes and businesses.

“The closest I’ve seen to this is the ice storm (of March 1978); it’s just unreal,” Davlin said of the damage early today.

“It’s the worst I’ve seen in 25 years,” added Police Chief Don Kliment.

Power to the Sangamon County Building was turned back on about 4:30 a.m. today. The jail was on lockdown overnight because of the outage, according to county administrator Ryan McCrady.

Emergency officials are confirming 19 people suffered minor injuries in the county as a result of the storm. There were no reports of deaths or missing people.Â·

From what I could gather from listening to the radio last night, the tornado cut a path roughly from Target on the Southwest Side to Channel 20 on the Northeast Side. Huge amounts of damage.

From the SJ-R website. Go there for more pics, but be warned that the site is pretty slow right now from all the hits.

UPDATE: The 11th Hour liveblogged the storm last night and has more updates today. If you blogged the storm or the aftermath, please link to your posts in comments.

UPDATE: From a press release:

Governor Rod R. Blagojevich will meet with Mayor Tim Davlin
and State Emergency Management Officials at the State Emergency Operation Center in Springfield today to discuss the damage caused by last nightâ€™s severe storms and tornados. Immediately following the private meeting, there will be a media briefing at the Center to discuss the damage and the steps the State will take to assist Springfield in getting it up and running again. The Governor will then tour the area from above in a helicopter with Mayor Davlin and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) to further assess any destruction done.

19 Comments

« NEWER POSTS