John Keller, the chief of staff to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, has abruptly resigned “for personal reasons,” according to a memo sent out late by Preckwinkle. The short, foreboding announcement offered no praise or congratulatory farewell to Keller, who had been in the powerful supervisory position since January 2017. Keller oversaw the work of all the offices under Preckwinkle. He also served as a liaison of sorts with elected city, county and state officials. When he was hired, Preckwinkle lavished praise, saying, “I have known John for more than a decade and his breadth of experience equips him well for the chief of staff role. He has a demonstrated ability to work well across the county’s vast landscape of responsibilities.” Deputy Chief of Staff Lanetta Haynes Turner replaces Keller in the interim. His departure comes as Preckwinkle makes plans to announce she’ll run for mayor. That’s supposed to take place Thursday in Hyde Park.
Shia was right to be suspicious. I mean, Preckwinkle’s chief of staff quietly resigns the week she will announce for mayor and he’s not moving over to the campaign, even though he’s been one of Preckwinkle’s go-to campaign guys for years? Odd, to say the least. Stuff like that just doesn’t happen. The rumor mill was blazing hot all day.
* And now we get the explanation via press release…
As President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners and as a woman, it is important to me to foster a workplace that is respectful, where all people are treated with dignity. I have always had zero tolerance for inappropriate and disrespectful behavior. On Friday, I became aware of an allegation that my Chief of Staff, John Keller, had engaged in inappropriate behavior on his personal time. The allegation was corroborated. I confronted Mr. Keller; he did not deny the allegation. Yesterday, I demanded and received his immediate resignation.
She shoulda just come clean.
…Adding… I probably don’t have to say this, but anyone who tries to out the victim in comments will be banished for life. Don’t try.
…Adding… Press release…
Toni Preckwinkle to Make Announcement Regarding Mayoral Race
WHAT: Toni Preckwinkle will be holding a press conference to announce her decision regarding the mayoral race.
WHEN: Thursday, September 20 at 3:00 pm
WHERE: Chicago Lake Shore Hotel at 4900 South Lake Shore Drive
“Why did Preckwinkle wait this long to take action?” asked a top Dem political source.
Sneed is told the allegation stemmed from Keller’s time working for the campaign of Marie Newman, who lost a bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., in the March Democratic primary.
The rumors of Keller’s behavior, which involved a woman working on Newman’s campaign, had been floating since then, according to another Dem source.
“There is really only one good way to do it and that is to step up payments,” Pritzker told Crain’s. “Think about the principal payments on your home. Step up principal payments earlier than they are due and try to flatten out the amortization schedule on an annual basis. Flatten it. The result of that will be that we can manage the budget of the state. Because that is really what is at stake here.”
The torture and false confessions coerced by Jon Burge's “midnight crew” cost Chicago more than ~$120M in legal feels, lawsuits and settlements (and we’re still paying for it). Chicago’s police union, however, is sticking by him. pic.twitter.com/dkwjv7E4hM
Former FOP President speaks about hearing that Jon Burge has died. Dean Angelo says Burge “put a lot of bad guys in jail” and “he didn’t get a fair shake.” Burge was convicted for lying about torturing suspects into false confessions. pic.twitter.com/71PoSLq0ka
Whenever Chicago Police commander Jon Burge needed a confession, he would walk into the interrogation room and set down a little black box, his alleged victims would later tell prosecutors. The box had two wires and a crank. Burge, they alleged, would attach one wire to the suspect’s handcuffed ankles and the other to his manacled hands. Then, they said, Burge would place a plastic bag over the suspect’s head. Finally, he would crank his little black box and listen to the screams of pain as electricity coursed through the suspect’s body.
“When he hit me with the voltage, that’s when I started gritting, crying, hollering. … It [felt] like a thousand needles going through my body,” Anthony Holmes told prosecutors during a 2006 investigation into Burge. “And then after that, it just [felt] like, you know—it [felt] like something just burning me from the inside, and, um, I shook, I gritted, I hollered, then I passed out.”
Holmes, who eventually gave what he says was a false confession and was convicted of murder in 1973, is one of as many as 120 African-American men on Chicago’s South Side who were allegedly tortured by Burge between 1972 and 1991.
* You’ll recall this Dave McKinney and Tony Arnold story from May of this year…
The day after WBEZ first reported on the stories of grieving families with loved ones who died from Legionnaires’ disease at the Quincy veterans’ home, a top aide in Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office had an idea: Could they tie the outbreaks to the previous administration? […]
Shortly after WBEZ published the original investigation on Dec. 12 of last year, one Democratic state lawmaker called for an audit examining the fatal Legionnaires’ outbreaks at the facility. The governor’s deputy chief of staff, Darlene Senger, floated a novel — if highly politicized — idea to shift blame for the deaths of the elderly Illinois Veterans Home residents.
“We can maybe tie this back to Duckworth,” Senger wrote in an email obtained through an open-records request. Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a disabled Iraq War veteran, ran the state agency that oversees the Quincy home under former Governors Pat Quinn and Rod Blagojevich.
She was replying to an e-mail sent by an administration official who wrote that the AG office was drafting the legislative audit language and it “should be filed within 48 hours.”
* Senger was asked about the e-mail at the Tribune editorial board meeting today…
Senger on Wednesday called Duckworth a “hero” and said the veterans agency has had problems “over several governors and several administrations.”
“The comment came out of a, basically a discussion, a question I had, which is, let’s go back and look at the history of how many pneumonia cases happened over time,” Senger said.
Mendoza called Senger’s email “disqualifying.”
“There’s no proof of any kind that she oversaw any Legionella cases,” Mendoza said. “The first reaction should have been not maybe we can tie this back to Tammy Duckworth, it should have been, ‘Oh my God, did this really happen on our watch?’ ”
* The SJ-R editorial board also asked Senger this week about the e-mail…
I probably should’ve used the term ‘Let’s go back and look at other administrations,’ um I mentioned another name who was head of the administration instead, and it had nothing to do except for the fact of, which we did the next day, let’s go back and look at the cases that were tracked.
She also said “There was questioning about whether that was even FOIA-able because I was doing policy work at the time.”
Maybe I'm doing the math wrong, but a family making $88,600 (median household income in the 24th District) would pay a thousand bucks less under the income tax structure highlighted here. https://t.co/UaGR8Ncqrz
* Dave McKinney has been chasing down the provenance of a stovepipe hat purchased for $7 million by the independent foundation that’s supposed to support the Lincoln presidential library for years, first at the Sun-Times and now at WBEZ…
A stovepipe hat that reputedly belonged to Abraham Lincoln is one of the most historically sacred objects displayed at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, but there’s insufficient evidence to prove it ever actually belonged to the former president.
That’s the finding from a previously undisclosed FBI analysis and another report obtained by WBEZ. They were part of a highly secretive effort to authenticate the hat by the foundation charged with acquiring artifacts for the Lincoln museum.
The efforts by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation involved a DNA assessment by the FBI and a report by top curators from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and Chicago History Museum. Those historians ultimately encouraged the Lincoln museum to “soften its claim about the hat.”
The focus of all the attention is a beaver fur hat in Lincoln’s size. It is the $6.5 million centerpiece of a major $25 million acquisition of Lincoln artifacts in 2007 by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, a nonprofit that operates independently of the Springfield, Illinois museum.
The financially troubled foundation, whose board members include former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar, is now seeking millions of dollars in state taxpayer support and private donations to repay $9.7 million in outstanding loans on the purchase of the hat and 1,600 Lincoln-related artifacts. Details about the foundation’s efforts to authenticate the hat are being reported for the first time by WBEZ.
The foundation bought the hat from someone who sat on the foundation board at the time. We may be owed a refund, but good luck getting that.
State Rep. Tim Butler said Wednesday the Illinois House should hold hearings to get to the bottom of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation and a hat purportedly owned by Abraham Lincoln that the foundation shelled out millions to obtain. […]
“I just find it incredible that the foundation could sit on this report for five years while also out there advocating for private and public dollars for a collection where the most iconic item they have, a report that says it may not be Abe’s hat,” Butler said.
The hat, which is occasionally on display at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, was the centerpiece of the Louise and Barry Taper Collection bought by the foundation in 2007 for $25 million. The foundation borrowed $23 million to purchase the collection. It still owes $9.7 million on the loan, which must be repaid by next year. […]
Butler said he wants the House Tourism Committee to hold hearings since the foundation was seeking tourism money to pay off its debt. He said the two historians should be asked to testify along with a representative of the FBI. He said the committee should also try to get to the bottom of the foundation’s finances.
If you call up the 2014 National Air Toxins Assessment map, which estimates the risk of cancer for residents of every census tract in the United States, and type in “Chicago, IL,” you’ll see a dark patch of blue over the southwest suburb of Willowbrook:
That’s the location of Sterigenics International, a company that uses ethylene oxide to sterilize medical products like surgical trays and gowns. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, exposure to the gas can “result in respiratory irritation and lung injury, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, shortness of breath, and cyanosis. Chronic exposure has been associated with the occurrence of cancer, reproductive effects, mutagenic changes, neurotoxicity, and sensitization.”
Indeed, according to the NATA map, residents of Willowbrook had a cancer risk of 300 in a million, specifically as a result of exposure to ethylene oxide emitted by Sterigenics. That’s the highest score anywhere in the Chicago area, and ten times higher than the vast majority of census tracts, which ran a risk of 30 in a million.
In fact, I searched the entire map of the United States, and the only place I found that exceeded Willowbrook’s cancer risk was St. John the Baptist, Louisiana, in the state’s notorious “cancer alley” of oil refineries and petrochemical processors.
Sterigenics is owned by a private equity firm co-founded by Gov. Bruce Rauner. Rauner left the firm in 2012 before running for governor.
On Tuesday, Rauner urged people to remain calm.
“I believe that company took the actions themselves, put in control equipment to reduce the emissions…So, this is, and the federal government, I wish they said it earlier, but they said it, I guess, in the last day or two, they put out a letter. This is not an emergency, this is not a public health immediate crisis, this is something we’re managing,” he said.
But the mayor of Willowbrook, who can see the company outside his office window, calls the situation urgent.
“It’s an emergency to me because all my citizens are concerned as well as all the employees here and I’m sure all the people who work in this area are and I am,” Frank Trilla said.
* Related…
* Burr Ridge residents raise concerns about Sterigenics chemical releases: “As of three weeks ago, I am basically terrified for my daughters’ health,” S. K. Pedersen, a Burr Ridge woman, said at a Village Board meeting. “I have had cancer. My husband’s had cancer. Just about everyone on our street, Elm, has had cancer.”
* Residents outraged by EPA pollution report call for Willowbrook Sterigenics plant to close: Hearing that the company could not be immediately shut down because it was operating within the rules of its permits issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency did not satisfy them. “You need to be in that facility monitoring what is going on,” said Elizabeth DiCriscio, who lives in Wauconda, but works in Willowbrook. “Kids are getting sick. I have headaches everyday of my life. I have asthma. I have eye pain.”
Today, Rodney Davis’ campaign released a new TV ad on his work to improve health care. The ad features Rodney’s wife Shannon, a registered nurse and 19-year cancer survivor.
Davis fought to improve health care and maintain multiple layers of protections for people with pre-existing conditions in the American Health Care Act (AHCA). He voted to lower costs and increase access to group and employer-sponsored health insurance. The health care changes in the AHCA are modeled after changes made by the State of Maine, which lowered premium costs for Americans aged 60 by more than $7,000.
Recent ads by an outside group supporting Davis’ opponent make claims fact checkers have considered misleading and fail to tell the whole story. The Washington Post and FactCheck.org explain.
Under Obamacare, premiums have risen by 108 percent since 2013 and every county in the 13th District is down to one or two insurance providers. Whether you’re healthy, young, old, or have a pre-existing condition, people are seeing increased costs and fewer choices under the current system.
The attacks on Rodney are just ridiculous I’m someone with a pre-existing condition, and will have that for the rest of my life. The genetic form of cancer that I have can affect our children. They have that chance to have the same type of cancer that I do.
Rodney, his ultimate goal is just to make sure everybody has the health care that they want and the choices and the options that they choose. Rodney’s willing to work across party lines to fight for better health care for all of us. It’s personal for us.
* Londrigan campaign…
Today, Betsy Dirksen Londrigan responded to Congressman Rodney Davis supposedly “reaffirming” his support for protections for those with pre-existing conditions, through a non-binding resolution without any legal weight. In reality, Davis voted 11 times to repeal the ACA without a replacement – which would eliminate protections for those with pre-existing conditions – and voted for the AHCA, which the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, independent fact checkers, and the AARP have all said would have weakened protections for those with pre-existing conditions including by making their coverage unaffordable.
“Honestly, it’s stunning that my opponent has the audacity to tout a worthless, partisan resolution claiming that he supports the very same protections for folks with pre-existing conditions that he has voted to gut over and over again,” said Betsy Dirksen Londrigan, candidate for Illinois’ 13th Congressional District. “This resolution protects exactly zero of the 290,800 non-elderly people in our district with pre-existing conditions – including all three of my children, and my husband Tom – and only a career politician like Rodney Davis would pretend that it does. For all who faced losing protections they counted on or being unable to afford their coverage altogether, this cheap talk is offensive. His actions speak clearly, and this resolution is nothing but more Washington political maneuvering.”
Check the facts:
* Davis Voted For Republican Budget That Repealed Affordable Care Act. [H Con Res 25, Vote #88, 3/21/13]
* Davis Voted To Repeal The Affordable Care Act. [HR 45, Vote #154, 5/16/13; CQ Floor Votes, 5/16/13]
* Davis Voted For Republican Budget That Repealed Affordable Care Act. [H Con Res 96, Vote #177, 4/10/14]
* Davis Voted To Repeal Affordable Care Act. [HR 596, Vote #58, 2/3/15; CQ Floor Votes, 2/3/15]
* Davis Voted For Budget Alternative That Repealed The Affordable Care Act. [H. Con Res. 27, Vote #141, 3/25/15; US News and World Report,3/25/15]
* Davis Voted For Republican Budget That Repealed The Affordable Care Act. [H. Con Res. 27, Vote #142, 3/25/15; New York Times, 3/25/15]
* Davis Voted For Republican Conference Report On Budget That Began Process To Repeal Affordable Care Act. [S Con Res 11, Vote #183, 4/30/15; Bloomberg, 4/29/15]
* Davis Voted To Repeal Major Pillars Of Affordable Care Act, Including Individual Mandate. [HR 3762, Vote #568, 10/23/15; Los Angeles Times, 10/23/15]
* Davis Voted To Repeal The Affordable Care Act. [HR 3762, Vote #6, 1/6/16; CNN, 1/6/16]
* Davis Voted To Overturn Obama’s Veto Of Bill That Would Repeal The Affordable Care Act. [HR 3762, Vote #53, 2/2/16; Washington Post,2/2/16] Note: Reported as 63rd vote
* Davis Voted To Begin Process Of Repealing Affordable Care Act. [S Con Res 3, Vote #58, 1/13/17; CNN, 1/3/17]
* As we’ve already discussed, First Lady Diana Rauner was on the Big John and Ramblin Ray show this week. From the end of her segment…
JOHN HOWELL: You know famously you guys paid a lot of money for a grand champion steer at the State Fair this year, but I understand there is also something about a deer making social media rounds. What’s this about Bruce Rauner and a deer?
DIANA RAUNER: Well you know that Bruce is an outdoorsmen. He’s a hunter and a fisherman and he’s often out in the wilderness. This is actually a true story, he told our kids this story a couple of years ago. He was driving down the road with friends and a bunch of deer jumped out across the road. The last one to jump across the fence and run up the mountain. The last one sort of slipped in the shale and he didn’t make it over the fence. The deer jumped over the fence and was hanging on with its back legs on the back of the fence. Bruce pulled over with his friends. ‘We’ve gotta help this deer.’ You know, this deer is going to die hanging out, what a terrible way to die. So he pulled over and he, you know, he tried with his friends. You know the thing about deer is that deer got very strong back legs and sharp hooves. So you want to release the deer’s legs but you don’t want to get kicked in the face. And of course you gotta ask what kind of guy says ‘I gotta save a deer’ and then puts himself in that kind of jeopardy to save an animal.
HOWELL: How many pounds in the freezer after all this?
RAUNER: No, no. Actually, he got that deer loose and off it went.
HOWELL: Then he shot after it [laughter]
RAUNER: But here’s the thing. I think it is a metaphor for the state of Illinois. Right? You know, we might be that deer hanging on the fence. Let me tell you, Bruce has been kicked in the face a few times here. But guess what? He’s the kind of guy that says ‘this is something that has to get done’ and even when he gets kicked in the face he’s just the most persistent S.O.B. on the planet and he’ll stick with it.
* I’ve whacked JB Pritzker time and again for not explaining any details about his graduated income tax idea and his spending plans. But let’s think about this a bit…
A Rauner campaign spokesman said, “Illinois doesn’t need higher taxes right now. We need to focus on lowering income taxes before we begin introducing new taxes.”
1) What specific budget cuts will the governor make to reduce the income tax rate?
2) What “new taxes” is the governor considering for the future?
“I’m an anti-tax, anti-debt person,” said Rauner, a Winnetka venture capitalist. “I don’t like to borrow, but the appropriate place to borrow money is to fund infrastructure.”
3) If he’s “anti-tax,” why did he sign a budget that spent all of the tax hike revenues?
4) If he’s “anti-debt” and doesn’t “like to borrow,” why did he allow the state’s unpaid bills pile up into the billions?
5) If he wants to borrow to fund infrastructure, what specific revenue sources would he use to make the debt payments? And if it’s from GRF, where would he cut to afford those debt payments?
Joint Statement from state Reps. Tom Demmer (R-Dixon) and Dan Brady (R-Bloomington):
“After being briefed by the independent investigators on the credible harassment allegations regarding Representative Long, the House Republican Leadership team stands unified with Leader Durkin’s actions and encourages Representative Long to resign immediately.”
Please note due to Rep. Norine Hammond’s position on the Legislative Ethics Commission, she has refrained from participating in this joint statement.
…Adding… Aside from Demmer, Brady and Hammond, the HGOP leadership team includes Reps. Grant Wehrli, Mike McAuliffe, Bill Mitchell, David Reis, Mike Unes and Keith Wheeler.
* Meanwhile, Rep. Jerry Long shared this post on his Facebook page…
This should be the new cover photo for the ILGOP and The HRO
After the phony sexual harrassment allegations about Jerry Long.
Jim Durkin head of the Elite Establishment HRO. Lied when he put out a press release.
To undermine Jerry Long campaign,
because Jerry Long would not bend to their liberal demands.
The HRO has no credibility. They are the same ones who told Jacob Bramel to drop out if the race 3 years ago.
You can click here and scroll down to see the photo if you want.
* So, I reached out to Reps. Jeanne Ives, Grant Wehrli, Dave McSweeny, Allen Skillicorn, Mark Batinick, Peter Breen and Tom Morrison via text and/or e-mail with this question…
Jerry Long has a post on his Facebook page about how he “would not bend” to the “liberal demands” of the House Republican leadership and resign. As a conservative House member, do you believe that Rep. Long should resign and/or drop out of his reelection bid?
* Their answers in the order in which they were received (an ellipsis indicates two separate messages)…
Rep. Batinick: Both.
Rep. Wehrli: Yes.
Rep. Skillicorn: On one hand I trust Durkin did his due diligence with the 3rd party investigation. On the other only Jerry and the accuser know what really happened. … If he did it, yes.
Rep. McSweeney: Resign! … And drop out to be clear.
Rep. Breen: Yes, Rep. Long should resign & drop out.
I’ll update if Ives (who advocated for two women in their #metoo claims against Democrats) and Morrison respond.
“After the allegations against Rep. Long were reported last Thursday, I reached out to Rep. Long Friday morning. He told me he couldn’t discuss them and instead, he would have his lawyer call me. After four days, that never occurred, and that still hasn’t occurred. Rep. Long’s own caucus conducted a third party investigation and determined by that investigation that his behavior warranted his resignation. I made my statement. This isn’t about me.”
- State Sen. Sue Rezin.
Long said he will speak with only the Ottawa paper about the harassment charges lodged against him. He claims he can provide “the truth.”
Perhaps no coincidence that the other local reporter he won’t speak to is a female?
*** UPDATE *** Rep. Tom Morrison just called. “All I know about this situation is what I’ve read on your blog,” he said. “I really want to reserve comment until I see an official report.” He said while the leaders have seen the report, he hasn’t. “I’ve asked when that report will come out and I was told ‘later.’ It’s just not appropriate for me to comment until I’ve seen what others have seen.”
The GOPers tied their call for resignation to accusations of Speaker Madigan allowing a culture of corruption, abuse of power, bullying and sexual harassment as well as discrimination among his House members and staff.
Rep. Ives, of course, appeared at a press conference with Rep. Lou Lang’s accuser. Lang was later cleared by the Inspector General.
* Tina Sfondeles on the Sun-Times editorial board meeting with the AG candidates…
State Sen. Kwame Raoul, the Democratic candidate for Illinois Attorney General, on Tuesday tried to paint his Republican challenger as an inexperienced litigator with shifty views on same-sex marriage and adoption — while Erika Harold offered rebukes of the Democrat’s accusations and vowed not to use the post to “punish political opponents.” […]
Both Raoul and Harold took issue with their opponent’s critical ads on constant rotation on TV right now. Raoul has run three ads which claim Harold said at age 19 that she’d prefer a child be placed in a foster home with abusive straight parents over being placed in a home with a “loving gay couple.” The comments were allegedly made during a closed-door interview with Harold, who was a Miss Illinois contestant, according to a story on NBC5 that cited three unnamed sources.
Harold’s campaign initially said she did not recall making those comments and says she now supports same-sex couples being able to adopt and being able to be foster parents. She noted the ads had been rated “false” by Politifact. […]
For his part, Raoul accused Harold of changing her mind on same-sex marriage in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision regarding marriage equality. […]
Sun-Times Editorial Board editor Tom McNamee asked Harold if her views about same-sex marriage and adoption would change should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn marriage equality.
“Of course not,” Harold said.
…Adding…. She kinda gave a different answer to WGN TV…
After the debate, Harold said same-sex marriage is the “law of the land,” and she wouldn’t do anything to undo it, but didn’t comment on her personal feelings on the matter.
In a Harold ad, she calls the real estate tax system a “scheme” and alleges “Mike Madigan and Kwame Raoul team up to raise property taxes.” It’s a reference to a bill Raoul and Madigan co-sponsored that originally contained language allowing the City Council to up its levy for pensions as part of a comprehensive deal with unions. The tax hike language was ultimately struck from the final bill. […]
“I stand by the fact that Sen. Raoul, instead of actually trying to do something to change that system, (serving as) the chief co-sponsor with Madigan, that would have only exacerbated this problem,” she said.
Raoul countered that the legislation offered the “tools” to help the city with its pension burden.
“I’ve never worked on a property tax appeals case in my life. I’ve never been at a firm that did any such work. But the insinuation in these commercials is that I’d engaged in that type of activity,” he said.
Both candidates stood by their ads, and there was no indication they won’t keep running them, which just points out the nature of political ads and what we can expect this political season.
My view: I think there are significant flaws with Politifact’s ratings on both ads in question (in one case they ignored the actual history of the property tax bill and in the other case they took a dispute over an opinion and turned it into hard facts). However, since both candidates have publicly touted Politifact’s false ratings of their opponents’ ads, they ought to both abide by the ruling and pull them. Either that, or stop playing that game.
Today, the Rauner campaign is launching a new ad featuring Lt. Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti titled “Spring Chicken.”
In the ad, the Lt. Governor says that she was only three months old when Mike Madigan was sworn into power, and she’s no “spring chicken.” It’s why Governor Rauner is the right choice in November, because he is the only person who has stood up to the culture of corruption that Mike Madigan has cultivated for decades, and he will continue to work for reform throughout his second term.
Lt. Governor Sanguinetti: “When Mike Madigan was sworn into power, I was three months old. I am no spring chicken, but this has been a lot of time for him to drive the state down. And now, he has JB Pritzker who he’s annointed. Bruce Rauner has been the only one to stand up to Mike Madigan, to stand up to the status quo, and that’s why this election is so important. It’s about our families and keeping our families here.”
…Adding… Two people have sent me this screenshot this morning. Notice the typos…
Sexual assault allegations against President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, “should disqualify him” if they’re founded, Gov. Bruce Rauner said Tuesday.
“Those allegations are very serious, very serious,” the Republican governor said at an unrelated event. “They deserve to be investigated, and if they are determined to be founded … they would disqualify him. They should disqualify him.” […]
Rauner’s comments come about two months after the White House highlighted his praise for Kavanaugh in an email blast to reporters.
“Our nation deserves a justice who is qualified, experienced, and will faithfully interpret and defend the Constitution,” the White House quoted the Republican governor as saying. “Judge Brett Kavanaugh has impressive credentials and he deserves a fair hearing and swift vote on his nomination.”
“We have learned nothing from the mistakes made in 1991 since Anita Hill’s explosive testimony and the political fallout that resulted,” Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Matteson wrote Tuesday on Facebook, referring to sexual harassment allegations against Justice Clarence Thomas during his confirmation. “What followed was the ‘Year of the Woman’ in 1992, electing five female U.S. senators.”
In contrast, Will County Board member Stephen J. Balich, R-Homer Glen, shared a post on Facebook Tuesday that questioned Ford’s claims.
“Anyone else think it’s a bit suspect that every single time a Republican is running for office or being appointed to a position at the 11th hour some anonymous person comes out and accuses them of sexual misconduct. Sorry, but I’m not buying it,” the post said.
OK, everybody take a deep cleansing breath before commenting. Maybe get up from your computer or put down your phone for a minute. And, remember, this isn’t Facebook.
A local union leader made a comment about “voting often,” presumably in jest, that has Republicans saying he was encouraging voter fraud.
Charles “Totsie” Bailey, who is the business manager for the Steamfitters Local 439, was speaking at a labor union meet and greet on Saturday in Caseyville, prior to various Democratic candidates spoke to the crowd.
Bailey said to the crowd that J.B. Pritzker, who was in attendance, is a great candidate for governor.
“He won’t win if we do not get out and vote. You need to early vote, like I say, we can play East St. Louis rules…, vote early, vote often, whatever you can get away with,” Bailey said to a crowd that began laughing. “I shouldn’t say that, but I really don’t care.”
Oh, for crying out loud.
Bailey’s comments set off an election fraud firestorm, so click here and read the rest for all the shouting, finger-pointing and etc. Drudge hasn’t picked it up yet, but I assume he will.
* But there’s also a racial angle. “East St. Louis rules”? Not a smart move…
Laninya Cason, who is running for Circuit Judge in St. Clair County, says likening voter fraud to the voters of East St. Louis is maddening.
“They didn’t say Belleville, Swansea or O’Fallon because they can’t buy their votes.”
“It infuriates me,” says Cason, “it’s a blatant disregard for our voting populous and they’re taking us for granted.”
“Most of the people that have been convicted of voter fraud in St. Clair County have come from East St. Louis or other minority communities surrounding it,” Cason said.
Cason is an African-American Republican running against Democrat Chris Kolker for the vacancy created by the death of Circuit Judge Robert LeChien.
A new poll commissioned by Democrat Sean Casten’s congressional campaign finds U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill., under water for the first time in a hotly contested race.
The poll, conducted by the Garin Hart Yang Research Group on behalf of Casten’s campaign, finds Casten ahead 47 to 44 percent, with 9 percent undecided. The poll was taken Sept. 8-10 of 402 likely voters in Illinois’ 6th Congressional District, which covers suburbs in Cook, Lake, Kane, McHenry and Dupage counties. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
Casten’s campaign framed the poll as proof that Roskam’s spending in the race isn’t working. The campaign released a summary of its findings but not all the data collected. The poll also found 39 percent of voters had an unfavorable view of Roskam, with 33 percent of voters saying they had a favorable view. […]
The poll also asked voters about Trump. Poll takers said that “nearly three in five voters,” or 58 percent, viewed Trump negatively in the district, which they claim is the worst ratings recorded for Trump since they began polling in the district.
* A couple of weeks ago, he sent out a press release heralding the birthdate of Jane Addams. Last month, he heralded the 25th anniversary of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s swearing-in. Today, it’s this…
House Speaker Michael J. Madigan released the following statement in support of the McDonald’s employees’ strike protesting sexual harassment:
“I support the McDonald’s workers in Chicago and across the country who are taking a stand to say it’s time they are heard and that sexual harassment in the workplace must end. It has become all too clear just how prevalent workplace harassment is. While much of the headlines of the MeToo movement have focused on high-profile celebrities and CEOs, women in every industry are experiencing harassment while simply trying to do their jobs, and not enough is being done to ensure women in the service industries are heard. America’s ‘first best job’ should not include abuse and harassment.
“Not only does harassment hurt individuals and workplaces, harassment harms our economy because it stops women from moving up the economic ladder—perpetuating the gender wage gap. All employers have a responsibility to take initiative to improve cultures and internal policies.
“Companies and policymakers have a responsibility to make sure our workplaces are free from harassment and that there are safe, reliable avenues for reporting abuse, a way to conduct prompt and thorough investigations and hold perpetrators accountable.
“This is an issue that has been a priority for my office. At my request, my Chief of Staff Jessica Basham has been meeting with some of the country’s leading women’s and progressive groups to gather the best ideas proposed to positively impact women and families. She is also leading a review of our internal policies and practices, and we have established a new process to bring complaints and have begun new in-person sexual harassment training.
“Abuse of power, discrimination, and harassment corrode our workplaces. I commend the women who have joined together to fight for what they have deserved all along—a workplace free of harassment and discrimination.”
The re-election seeking governor and business leaders that endorsed him Tuesday kept up the Rauner campaign’s theme of hitting Pritzker on taxes. The Democratic a billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune has proposed a graduated tax system for the state, having people with higher incomes pay higher rates. Pritzker hasn’t revealed what he thinks those specific rates should be.
Illinois Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Todd Maisch said it’s “bunk” that the higher rates would only apply to millionaires.
He pointed to Minnesota, saying the top tax rates there are paid by families making more than $250,000 per year.
“That’s not the rich,” Maisch said at the endorsement event at an Addison business. “If you’re living in this community and around, sure, $255,000, we all aspire to get there and that’s a great salary. It is not the rich. You do not build (wealth) if you are a family making $250,000.”
“Rich” is such a loaded term. We can argue all day about who is and isn’t rich. Pritzker ought to stop using loaded words like that, too. There is only a teeny-tiny handful of people in this state as rich as himself and Gov. Rauner. Unless you’re gonna tax them at a very high rate, a tax increase can’t be limited to only those folks.
I kinda liked the Pew Research Center’s attempt at defining upper-income households this week. It’s got some reason and substance behind it.
* Also, since Minnesota was mentioned…
Today Bruce Rauner claimed "the middle class gets socked" under a fair income tax system, and used Minnesota to prove his point
* The governor is still apparently looking for that elusive magic message that will make everyone go, “Oh, OK. Now I get it!”…
If re-elected, Rauner said he plans to spend more time with Illinois’ residents, and its media.
“It’s hard to communicate to 12.8 million people,” he said. “What I’ve learned is that I need to spend a lot of one-on-one time with legislators listening.
“I need to spend more time communicating with people, just getting the message out about what’s at stake,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot. I come from business and, in business, you can make a decision and implement it.”
* The Question: If you worked for Bruce Rauner, what message would you recommend he use to improve his image? This is not snark. It’s a serious question.
In the closing weeks of his re-election bid, Republican U.S. Rep Peter Roskam is trying to connect his opponent Sean Casten to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, calling his Democratic challenger a tax-happy “Madigan puppet.”
Casten wants to unseat Roskam from Congress, in Washington, D.C., not the Illinois Capitol in Springfield, where Madigan is widely considered the most powerful figure. Nevertheless, Roskam is invoking Madigan in speeches and TV ads, a tactic that aligns with Gov. Bruce Rauner and state-level Republicans as they attempt to position themselves as a counterweight to the Southwest Side Democrat and “the Chicago machine.”
“Do we really want Mike Madigan and his team to do a clean sweep in the suburbs?” Roskam asked the crowd Sunday at a rally for Kane County Republicans in Geneva. “And the answer is, of course, ‘No.’ And so we’ve got an opportunity between now and Election Day to over-perform and to bring through this great economic truth: that is we want things that grow. We want an economy where people can participate actively. And it is those things that are at stake.” […]
The anti-Madigan strategy is so pervasive in Illinois Republican politics that it is being carried out in another hot congressional race more than 300 miles away in the state’s most southern district. There, U.S. Rep. Mike Bost just started airing a TV ad in his race against Democratic challenger Brendan Kelly, tying him to both Madigan and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi using just one sentence.
When I served in the Navy, I learned it’s not just about service – it’s about who you serve. My opponent, Mike Bost, has been an Illinois politician for almost 35 years, he even voted to raise his own pay. He’s taken thousands of campaign contributions from Big Banks, Big Pharma, and Bruce Rauner. Then he handed them a corrupt tax giveaway — threatening Medicare and Social Security. I’m Brendan Kelly, and I approve this message, because I will only serve Southern Illinois. Not party leaders and not Big Pharma.
You don’t see this a lot, even with Rauner’s low poll numbers.
*** UPDATE *** Check out this Paul Ryan super PAC ad…
* “Soft circles” essentially means conditional commitments…
Gov. Bruce Rauner talks about getting a U of Ill campus in Chicago, Rockford, Peoria and the Quad-Cities. "It's totally doable, I don't want to jinx it but I got soft circles with their alumni." He said during a meeting with the @qctimes Editorial Board. @GovRauner@BruceRaunerpic.twitter.com/0M9×9JBffo
Elected officials who don’t want to apologize take the next-closest step: Explain how they’ll govern differently.
Embattled Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is a case study of this crisis strategy. Last week, he pledged to listen more to differing views instead of forging through with unpopular reforms. “I’m not perfect, but I’ve grown and I’m still committed to doing what’s right for Illinois. I humbly ask for another four years to finish the job we started — to save our state,” Rauner said.
It’s no coincidence that Rauner, a well-financed candidate, is polling at a dismal 30 percent after barely winning his primary in March. Barring a miracle, he’s headed to defeat against Democrat J.B. Pritzker.
The reality is Tip O’Neill’s maxim no longer applies: All local politics is now national. Members of Congress who focus on districtwide accomplishments will be running against a wave of national attacks that resonate more with constituents.
Rauner has famously been reluctant to even use Trump’s name, despite withering criticism. His opponent, Democrat J.B. Pritzker, just released an ad that features a television reporter repeatedly asking Rauner about Trump, only to be chided by Rauner to “focus” on issues affecting Illinois.
I was listening to a radio interview the other day and Rauner called the latest poll showing him 17 points down “Baloney,” even though polling has consistently had him trailing by large amounts since June.
Today, Governor Rauner was endorsed by the state’s four most prominent business groups that support his goal of reducing the tax and regulatory burden to grow the Illinois economy. He released the following statement following endorsements by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, Associated Builders and Contractors, Illinois Chamber of Commerce, and Illinois Manufacturers Association.
“It is a tremendous honor to receive endorsements from the NFIB, ABC, Illinois Chamber of Commerce, and IMA. I am committed to making Illinois the best state in the country to start and grow a business. We will continue working every day to grow the Illinois economy by reducing the tax and regulatory burden on our businesses to create more good-paying jobs.” - Governor Bruce Rauner
ABC President Alicia Martin released the following statement:
“ABC endorsed Bruce Rauner for Governor in the fall of 2013. We did so because we firmly believed Governor Bruce Rauner would make a positive impact on the economic well-being of ABC members and the construction industry. Given the accomplishments of Governor Rauner over the past almost four years, we were right to endorse him then and we are right to endorse him for another four-year term.”
NFIB State Director Mark Grant released the following statement:
“Governor Rauner is the clear choice for Illinois’ small businesses.
“When he took office nearly four years ago, Illinois small businesses were struggling to keep their heads above water and to compete with business in the region. Today, they are firing on all cylinders, hiring more workers, paying higher wages and growing their businesses. They know that Governor Rauner and his economic and government reform agenda is a major reason why.
“…Despite well-funded and entrenched opposition, Governor Rauner has never backed down. He remains deeply committed to policies and legislation that will help attract and keep jobs in the state.
“On behalf of our dues-paying members throughout Illinois, I’m proud to announce the NFIB Illinois PAC’s endorsement of Bruce Rauner for a second term as governor.”
Greg Baise, president and CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, release the following statement:
“The IMA endorsed Bruce Rauner four years ago because Illinois could not afford a Governor who created a hostile business climate with more spending and higher taxes. Four years later, voters in this state could not have a sharper contrast between the two candidates for Governor. JB Pritzker supports raising taxes and spending taxpayer money without accountability as far as the eye can see. The choice is clear as Bruce Rauner is the only candidate that will protect your pocketbook and that’s why manufacturers across this state are endorsing him for Governor today.”
Rick Delawder, President of SWD, Inc. and Chairman of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association released the following statement:
“The business community needs a Governor who understands the challenges facing employers and taxpayers every day. As a family owned manufacturing business, we’ve seen some tough times in this state due to policies that make it difficult for us and our customers to compete and grow our businesses. Higher taxes, higher spending and more regulations do not create jobs or result in higher wages and greater investment. JB Pritzker’s tax and spend solutions are something we cannot afford and that’s why we are endorsing Bruce Rauner for Governor.”
Todd Maisch, President and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, released the following statement:
“Governor Rauner has consistently stood up for businesses here in Illinois. The governor has been a champion for reducing the tax and regulatory burden that is holding back economic growth, and we at the Illinois Chamber of Commerce are proud to stand behind his message for cutting taxes and creating jobs for hardworking Illinois families”
* Pritzker campaign…
While Bruce Rauner makes an announcement with business groups this morning, a quick look at his record shows how he’s failed the same business community he claims to care about.
Here’s how Rauner failed businesses and drove Illinois off a fiscal cliff:
JOB GROWTH: Illinois’ unemployment rate is among the highest in the nation, and “by Rauner’s own standards, he’s a bigger failure than his predecessor” on job growth. New jobs totaled 209,000 during Rauner’s first 42 months as governor, less than the 241,500 jobs created in the 42 previous months.
BILL BACKLOG: Rauner tripled the state’s bill backlog to a record $16 billion at the height of his budget crisis. And he racked up over $1 billion in late payment fees during his budget crisis — which is more than the last 18 years combined.
JUNK STATUS: “Governor Junk” dragged Illinois’ bond rating to one notch above junk status, the lowest ever for any state in the country. In just three years, state bonds were downgraded eight times and five state universities were downgraded to junk status.
SMALL BUSINESS: Rauner’s budget crisis forced a quarter of Small Business Development Centers to close, and state contracts for minority business owners dropped by 22%.
MANUFACTURING: Eleven months ago, the failed governor zeroed out a $1.4 million grant to the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association for job training, which earned him headlines like “Rauner eliminates manufacturing program during Manufacturing Month.”
“Bruce Rauner created unprecedented instability for businesses as governor, harming hardworking Illinois families and business owners across the state,” said JB Pritzker. “Rauner’s two-year budget crisis devastated the economy, and it will take years to recover. While Rauner, by his own measure, has been a ‘miserable failure on jobs,’ I have a record of creating thousands of good-paying jobs and helping transform our state into one of the world’s top tech hubs. I look forward to bringing my record of job creation to Springfield and putting our state back on the side of working families.”
*** UPDATE *** Greg Baise at the IMA…
“JB’s claim is false. Because Gov. Rauner recognized the importance of addressing the critical job training needs of the state’s manufacturing sector, the final budget did ultimately include the workforce development grant. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle again included it in this year’s budget. While the Pritzker campaign is quick to respond with their canned messages, their continued silence over how much they plan to tax working families and Illinois businesses and how they will pay for almost $11 billion in new spending has been deafening,” said Greg Baise, president and CEO, IMA.
The cut was indeed on the list of what the governor’s office wanted to slash after a budget was passed over Rauner’s veto, but the IMA says it was restored and then put into the budget this year as well.
* Both Moody’s and S&P Global Ratings have conducted “stress tests” of all 50 state budgets in the event of a recession. Here’s Brian Mackey’s report on the S&P test…
“When you look at all the states, the median level of fixed costs is 12 percent of a state’s budget,” [S&P’s Gabriel Petek] says. “But in Illinois, those three items” — pensions, retiree health care, and debt service — “come to 31 percent of the state’s budget. So that means they have less room, less discretionary budget capacity, to work with.” […[
“In the event of a downturn the state has this combination of reduced budget flexibility because of the high fixed costs, and no budget reserves to cushion the impact,” Petek says.
He says while Illinois’ financial picture has improved since the budget stalemate, lawmakers haven’t done enough.
“There hasn’t really been a focus on it — among the policymakers that we’re aware of — to tackle what remains of the structural budget deficit or build a budget reserve or how to bring unpaid bills to a lower level,” he says.
He got that right. Boy, did he ever.
The S&P report is here. According to its stress test, Illinois would have just 1 percent of budget reserves to deal with a downturn and a 9 percent revenue shortfall in a moderate recession (10 percent in a more serious recession) and a 3 percent increase in Medicaid expenses.
S&P did claim that Illinois’ flat tax insulated the state better than states with graduated tax rates, which is about the best argument for a flat tax I’ve seen.
* As I told subscribers today, the Moody’s report is more specific because it provides actual dollar amounts (click here). That 9.3 percent revenue shortfall in a moderate (or “normal”) recession translates into $3.35 billion. Moody’s projects an increase of $732 million (6 percent) in Medicaid spending, for a total shortfall of $4.1 billion.
Moody’s projects a 16.2 revenue shortfall during a “severe” recession scenario, or $5.8 billion. Medicaid spending will rise by $977 million for a total hit of $6.78 billion.
There is also a greater number of states that are significantly unprepared for even a small downturn, with 17 states holding far less funds than they need, compared with 15 in 2017, Moody’s said.
Those states, in order of least-prepared, are Louisiana, Oklahoma, North Dakota, New Jersey, Montana, Kentucky, Virginia, Missouri, Arizona, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Kansas, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Michigan and Arkansas.
The number of people in Illinois with health insurance dropped last year for the first time since the Affordable Care Act took effect.
The uninsured rate for non-seniors grew to almost 8 percent and more than 841,000 children and adults are without coverage in Illinois.
[Katie Buitrago at the Heartland Alliance] says policy changes are to blame.
“This increase in the uninsured rate in Illinois shows how policy changes leading up to 2017 that cutoff payments to insurers and canceled Affordable Care Act marketing had a big impact on enrollment.”
* States’ Reliance On Income Taxes Risky, S&P Says: The S&P report said even as the current economy continues to reach new heights and remains healthy on various fronts, states need to be wary of the fiscal effects of another recession on their coffers. With growing reliance on personal income tax, states are susceptible to swings in the markets
“That doesn’t mean we don’t disagree,” said Edgar, who also spoke to students during a political studies class earlier in the day. “But we don’t call people names. We don’t question someone’s integrity because they have another point of view. We don’t call someone a crook because they don’t agree with us.” […]
“I never questioned [Speaker Madigan’s] integrity, because I knew I would have to sit down and work with him,” Edgar said. […]
While the message can sometimes get lost, Edgar said it is important to remember that government is meant to help those who are in need. During the recent budget impasse, or the 793 days when Illinois did not have a complete state budget, politicians and the wealthy were not the ones most affected, he said. Rather, it was the students who depend on MAP grant funding for college and those who relied on social service agencies who felt the pain.
“We have to remember to help people, and if we do not do that, then we’re failing and a lot of people are going to get hurt,” Edgar said.
There’s that “fail” word that Pritzker is so fond of using.
* Fmr. Gov. Edgar visit inspires students: “Civility. Compromise. Compassion. We need to keep all three of those words in mind,” Edgar said. “We need to be more civil in our dealings. We can disagree with people in an agreeable manner.”
* Barickman On Rauner’s ‘Unorthodox’ Speech, Higher Ed Funding Rewrite: “He does need to reset,” Barickman said. “You look at the polls—what’s clear is that Republicans by and large are going to have a tough time this November. (Rauner) is in a very difficult re-election. Part of the reality of where he is at probably led to his kind of unorthodox speech.”
HOST: Speaking of relationships Diana Rauner, do you think your husband will reach out to Jeannie Ives? We’re actually doing an event with her on Wednesday to try to get her into the fold to help him and perhaps battle Pritzker this November.
DIANA RAUNER: Yeah, I’m sure, I know they’ve certainly, he has certainly tried to reach out to her. I’m sure. The goal here really is I think everyone;s just gotta think about what is - what do we want for the future of our state? And do we want to keep moving forward on a path of reform, of change? You know this has been a really tough road to hoe and all of you guys know that beginning of change is the hardest and the most disruptive time.
Gov. Rauner was on the program the other day and was asked what he’d like to say to Rep. Ives. He said something about how he’d like to thank her for her service both in the military and in the General Assembly. Then he said: “And thank you for saying publicly that you’ll vote for me in this election.”
Well you know, I find them somewhat hollow — ‘thank you for your service in the General Assembly’ — because time and time again I went to his administration with great advice, and it was just a bunch of 30-something smart alec kids that run his agencies, basically thought they knew better than people like me who had served at the local level and have been there for a while. So I mean that’s a little hollow, quite frankly.
And as far as Diana goes, really, she’s the one who has created some of the disaster that we’ve seen with Rauner’s administration. She’s the one advising them. And remember, this is a guy who said ‘I’m not in charge,’ and you know who is in charge in that family and it’s Diana.
The La Salle County Republican Party has not made up its mind on whether it will support state Rep. Jerry Long’s bid for re-election after harassment allegations were lodged against him.
Party chairman Don Jensen said the county GOP is looking into the facts of the case before it makes a decision. He is unsure of a timetable when a decision may be made.
Last week, the Illinois House Republican Organization and Illinois Republican Party both pulled their support, including finances, from Long’s campaign after the HRO said it conducted a third-party investigation into an anonymous complaint. They also asked him to resign.
Long has said he is staying in the race, saying he has done nothing to warrant his resignation.
This was not an “anonymous complaint.”
The House Republicans know the person who complained because the person approached them. They also know the surrounding facts and the context. The complainant asked to remain anonymous and that should be respected, even though Long tried to out the person in a press release.
…Adding… Glad to hear it…
Rich Miller @capitolfax makes a good point on the use of "anonymous" in our report, we have edited online and will make this change for future print. https://t.co/rMS6npqlDd
And as far as Chairman Jensen goes, the House GOP doesn’t pull out of Tier One races over nothing. They spent over a million dollars on the guy in the last month of the 2016 election. That’s an investment you don’t lightly abandon.
In the wake of an allegation last week of harassment of a person associated with the House Republican Office, another Republican today joined the call for state Rep. Jerry Long (R-Streator) to resign.
“In light of the House Republicans recommending Rep. Long step down from his position as State Representative after a third party firm was hired to investigate Rep. Long’s behavior, I too am calling for Rep. Long to resign. Harassment has no place in our society,” said state Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) in a statement provided to the NewsTribune on Monday afternoon.
It’s Bruce Rauner versus the corrupt democrats from Chicago. That’s how Governor Rauner described the choice this fall between him and JB Pritzker during a campaign stop in the Quad Cities Monday.
After a tour of a packaging and warehouse company in Rock Island, Pak Source, he told workers it’s critical that they vote in November.
“Pritzker is part of that Chicago political machine, that corrupt machine, that’s caused you guys to have the highest property taxes in America, that’s put a lot of bad regulations on our small business owners like Pak Source, and pushed a lot of our jobs over the border to Iowa, our jobs have gone over the border to Wisconsin, to Indiana, Tennessee, and Texas.” […]
“Pritzker has publicly called for a ban on hadngun sales, a ban on sporting rifle sales, and a 100 % tax on ammunition. Pritzker is a gun grabber of the first order.”
Hello, this is your state Representative Natalie Phelps Finnie. If you are sick and tired of seeing southern Illinois left behind, join me for a prayer rally this Sunday at 3:00pm at Tamms’ Correctional Facility. I am fighting to reopen Tamms to bring back good paying jobs and improve our local economy instead of following Bruce Rauner’s plan to open a new facility in Chicago. It’s time to put southern Illinois first this Sunday at 3 at the Tamms Correctional Facility. Paid for by friends of Natalie Phelps Finnie.
