* I’ve been trying to avoid posting more than a handful Obama stories lately. You can find that stuff on other blogs. But, there’s a lot of interest in tonight’s primaries, so here’s a handy news feed to help you keep up with things…
* Check out Taegan Goddard’s wrap-up of late Texas polls. Clinton leads Obama in every one of them. Obama has been trying to downplay expectations for days, and that could be why. Meanwhile, Slate has a piece up about some super delegates who could be changing sides very soon. Slate also has this somewhat coincidental video.
*** 2:28 pm *** The essential repeal of last year’s law to require a moment of silence in schools passed the House today 72-31 with 6 abstentions.
The sponsor, Rep. John Fritchey, does not consider the bill to be a full repeal, but his legislation changes the statute back from schools “shall” have a moment of silence to “may” - where it was before the General Assembly changed it last year. That bill was vetoed by Gov. Blagojevich and then overridden in both changes. The title of the statute was also changed from the Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act to the Student Silent Reflection Act. A federal judge has been holding up last year’s law until its constitutionality can be determined.
Its fate in the Senate is uncertain.
* 2:38 pm - Mayor Daley dumped on the idea of relaxing landmark restrictions at Wrigley Field today, but didn’t flatly come out against it…
Without flatly ruling out easing landmark restrictions to make way for a Wrigley rehab, Daley said the park is “historical” and added that its special status came a few years ago because “people wanted it.”
“There were concessions on both sides, both the city…and the Chicago Tribune,” the mayor said. “All of a sudden they want to change that…Why do they want to change it? What happened?”
“You can’t tear every building down…Unfortunately, there have been a number of killings — both in and around high schools or elementary schools” as well as colleges, Daley said.
“It wasn’t the building that did it. It was the opportunity of someone getting a gun in Illinois….The access is so easy. That’s what we should be looking at. We should be in Springfield putting $40 million into education. That’s different. Not into tearing a building down because someone was killed in there. If that takes place, that would be a terrible precedent for us to have in Illinois.”
* And Dick Kay is going back to broadcasting. Well, part-time…
Retired WMAQ-Ch. 5 political reporter Dick Kay will begin hosting a weekly, two-hour radio talk show starting Saturday at 2 p.m. on WCPT AM 820.
Kay, 71, retired in 2006 and last year worked briefly as Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s “special advocate for health care.”
*** 3:03 pm *** Is NIU’s president backing away from the Cole Hall demolition idea? Here’s his latest letter to the campus…
We now face the question of what to do with this facility in the future. Our answer should represent a consensus opinion formulated by all members of our campus community. We must decide whether to remove the building or keep it; to reopen it in its present form or change its purpose or configuration. Any decision carries emotional and financial costs. I have expressed my own view that we should decommission Cole Hall as a classroom building. I made that judgment after talking with scores of students, parents, faculty and alumni who told me they could not fathom returning to Cole Hall to teach or study. In the days that have followed that tragic event, different voices and opinions have emerged, and we must take in all those viewpoints before moving forward. In the spirit of shared governance, I pledge to do all I can to facilitate the expression of all opinions.
* 3:05 pm - As I told you below, Dem congressional candidate Bill Foster was planning to unveil a new TV ad today featuring Sen. Barack Obama. The ad debuts just days before Saturday’s special election against Jim Oberweis. Here it is…
The University of Illinois flash economic index in February rose for the second straight month after six months of decline.
“It appears the recession hasn’t arrived in Illinois,” said economist J. Fred Giertz, who compiles the index for the UI’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs. […]
“We’re still moving along at a modest pace, but that doesn’t mean a recession in the state might not be around the corner,” Giertz said.
* 4:14 pm - Steve Stone is one of the smartest broadcasters in baseball, and he’s now with the White Sox…
A former American Major League Baseball player and current sportscaster, Steve Stone, signed Monday night a deal with the White Sox. He is now the team’s full-time radio color analyst for the 2008 season.
* Art Golab had a fascinating story in yesterday’s Sun-Times…
There’s a town, out west, where you’ll find the Mercedes-Benz nameplate on an astonishing 11 of every 100 cars. No, not Beverly Hills — it’s Oak Brook.
Kenilworth and Chicago’s Gold Coast aren’t far behind: 10.8 percent of all cars registered in the North Shore suburb sport a Mercedes hood ornament; 9 percent in the pricey city neighborhood. […]
The most popular cars? Here’s what a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of state vehicle-registration data found:
* Throughout the six-county Chicago area, Chevrolet is the most-popular car make. No. 2: Ford (followed by Toyota, then Honda). In fact, Chevy and Fords are tops in popularity in 247 of 294 ZIP codes in the city and suburbs. (The vehicle-registration data includes make of car but doesn’t show particular models.)
* In Chicago, Chevys are the most popular make in the greatest number of ZIP codes (28). No. 2: Ford (18).
* In Cook County, every single ZIP code is dominated by one of five makes of automobile — Chevy, Ford, Toyota, Honda and Mercedes.
* Merits aside, the usual Statehouse suspects are on the winners and losers list in this ruling…
A state law requiring parental notification before a minor can get an abortion will remain on hold, a federal judge ruled, the latest in decades of complex legal wrangling. […]
The Parental Notice of Abortion Act was passed in 1984 and updated in 1995 but never enforced because the Illinois Supreme Court refused to issue rules spelling out how judges should handle appeals of the notification requirement. A federal court held that the law could not take effect without the rules in place. In 2006, the Supreme Court unexpectedly adopted the necessary rules.
U.S. District Judge David Coar last week refused to lift a federal court order that has blocked the notification law from taking effect, saying the law would place some minors in “legal limbo.”
The law allows a judge to waive the notification requirement if a waiver is in the minor’s “best interests,” but it doesn’t make clear how the minor may then obtain an abortion, Coar wrote in a 13-page opinion.
“The statute is contradictory and incomplete on its face,” Coar said. Coar rejected several other challenges to the law.
* But the most interesting part of this story is Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s role. Madigan brought this case up the ladder against the wishes of her allies in the pro-choice camp. Since the IL Supreme Court issued the compliance rules, Madigan claimed it was her duty to uphold the law as written. Now, she’ll be under immense pressure from both sides as she decides whether to appeal…
Thomas Brejcha of the Chicago-based Thomas More Society’s Pro-Life Law Center, said he expected Madigan to appeal, if need be, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
* This article claims there’s some weird severability language in the state’s new smoking ban law. Usually, bills state that if part of the law is overturned, the rest of the law remains intact.
The Peoria Journal Star article claims that the smoking ban law stated just the opposite. If even one part is overturned then the whole law is tossed out.
But I checked the actual law and the law appears to have the standard severability claim. So, even though opponents are starting to attack the law bit by bit, the entire law is probably safe from being overturned unless a judge specifically does so…
A Bureau County judge today will begin untangling a case that could potentially snuff out Illinois’ 2-month-old ban on smoking in public places. […]
But Carrington’s lawyer, Peoria attorney Dan O’Day, claims in several motions filed late last week that multiple provisions of the Smoke-Free Illinois Act - from the signage requirements to the likelihood of illegal invasions of privacy and fines - are unenforceable at best, or even unconstitutional. […]
And among several other challenges to the minutia of the law, Carrington’s case also questions the constitutionality of the state’s requirement for businesses to post no smoking signs at entrances and exits - some with the name of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the insignia of the American Lung Association or other logos. The constitutionality of mandated ash tray removal also is challenged.
* Here’s the article’s passage on severability…
O’Day said the severability clause in the Smoke-Free Illinois Act contains a peculiarity that appears to do the opposite: invalidate the entire statute if one of its provisions becomes a courtroom casualty.
* Here’s the severability language in the law…
Section 60. Severability. If any provision, clause or paragraph of this Act shall be held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such validity shall not affect the other provisions of this Act.
That’s pretty much the standard language. Am I missing something here?
* More…
* Saturday, business owner Jon Hemminghaus held what he calls a “smoke-in”. He invited anyone to stand inside or within 15 feet of the front door of his business and smoke to protest the Smoke-Free Illinois Act.
* County officials still unsure how to enforce smoking ban
* Sanity is starting to rear its head as a legislator who stood with Gov. Blagojevich at NIU when he made the announcement about knocking down Cole Hall backs away…
A $40 million plan to demolish and replace the Northern Illinois University building that was the scene of last month’s massacre is “off the table,” a GOP lawmaker said Monday.
But a campus official said the plan remains an option that will be discussed among “university family” along with other ideas for Cole Hall. And Gov. Blagojevich, who first announced the plan, will follow NIU’s lead, his office said.
The Republican legislator, Sen. Bradley Burzynski of Downstate Clare, whose district covers NIU, said he does not favor knocking down the building after being inundated by voters who universally believe it would cost too much and who criticized Blagojevich for bursting out of the gates to announce the plan amid great fanfare.
“I’d say this has generated more mail, e-mail and phone calls in my office than any other local issue has in 18 years that I’ve been in Springfield,” Burzynski said.
“It’s off the table for now,” he said.
* The Rockford Register Star broke this story, and here’s its take…
Burzynski said that after he got over the excitement of the governor’s announcement at NIU, he decided the plan for the state to borrow $40 million on behalf of the university was not fiscally prudent.
“Everyone got caught up in the governor’s announcement and willingness to try to help the university,” Burzynski said.
NIU officials did not respond Monday to requests for comment. And Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch would not say whether Blagojevich remained committed to the plan.
“We stand by President Peters and the NIU community and will continue to support their decisions on how best to move forward,” she said in a statement.
1) Propose something big without consulting key legislators
2) Get lots of press coverage
3) Legislators hear from unhappy constituents
4) Legislators tell legislative leaders that they can’t be with the program
5) Proposal falls apart
6) Attack legislators
7) Find a new press pop opportunity and repeat
* Yesterday, the Sun-Times reported that the governor’s 2006 promise to help rebuild the fire-ravaged Pilgrim Baptist Church with $1 million in state money was never fulfilled. Instead, the cash went to a private school that took the money and moved somewhere else.
Oops.
Here’s the initial response…
Blagojevich’s administration said last week the allotment to Loop Lab School fulfilled the governor’s pledge to help the church.
But by late Sunday, aware of criticism from lawmakers and church leaders, the administration changed its tune and was scrambling to figure out what exactly had been negotiated between the state and church.
* Then, after the story broke, the governor threw a couple of former staffers under the bus and promised more money…
Blagojevich attributed the $1 million “bureaucratic mix-up” to the work of a couple of ex-staffers and pledged another $1 million –on top of what was erroneously spent — to help the Bronzeville architectural gem recover from a devastating 2006 fire.
* The guv canceled other plans and rushed to a church property to hold a quickie press conference…
‘’I'm as frustrated as you are,” he told reporters at Pilgrim’s satellite worship space at 33rd and Indiana. “I’m angry about those who work for me who allowed this to happen. We’ve identified a couple of people involved, and they no longer work for us, but I think they made an honest mistake.”
Actually, it was the governor who made the mistake. You’d think he’d want to check up on that church, but the promise he made was so 2006. On to the next press pop. Don’t look back or you’ll risk seeing the wreckage.
“We have no indication this is not a real program,” Blagojevich said. “They went elsewhere, used the money elsewhere.”
* Yet, nobody even knows whether the school is still functioning…
But aides admit they’re still trying to reach the school’s director. They sent a letter to 318 W. Adams, but when CBS 2 went there, the doorman said the school uses this address, but it’s not open, nor is it operating. We couldn’t find a working number.
Public records show the school used the money to buy space on the second floor of a building at 318 W. Adams St.. The seller—who also lent the school $305,000—was Card LLC, a company controlled by John Thomas.
Convicted of federal fraud and money-laundering charges in New York in 2004, Thomas became an undercover FBI mole as part of federal investigations into political corruption and real estate crimes. His role as an informant was revealed six days before the Lab School signed the papers to buy a floor of the 18-story building.
His name, “John Thomas,” was a pseudonym. Thomas, named Bernard Barton, moved to Chicago in 2000. He ran a billboard company and several firms that invested in downtown high-rises or helped other developers obtain bank loans.
His partner in Card LLC, developer Robert Horner, said he and Thomas are selling floors as office condos, and have sold about half the units in the Adams building. Horner confirmed the school bought the entire second floor for roughly $1.3 million in May 2007.
* From last month’s Sun-Times interview of Thomas…
Thomas provided a fly-on-the-wall look inside Rezko’s real estate operations and his desperate attempts to keep his projects afloat.
Sources said Thomas also logged frequent visits to Rezko from Gov. Blagojevich and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Blagojevich and Obama were among the many politicians for whom Rezko raised campaign cash. Neither has been charged with any wrongdoing.
* One more thing. John Thomas’ lawyer is Jeffrey Steinbeck. Steinbeck is also Stu Levine’s lawyer. Steinbeck is the go-to guy if you want to cut a deal with the feds. He also represented former city treasurer Jim Laski.
You may think Chicago is a big city, but in many ways it’s really a small town.
* After all the hyperventilating in the media last week about Sam Zell’s threats to sell naming rights to Wrigley Field, ask that the park’s historic landmark status be weakened or even tossed out, and then move ahead with the sale of the building to the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, I thought I’d call Big Jim and see what he had to say…
Former Gov. Jim Thompson is in charge of crafting the sale. Gov. Rod Blagojevich asked Thompson to get this done, and he’s doing his best, but he admitted last week that he was “presenting this idea at the worst possible time.”
Still, Thompson said, “Everybody should calm down about Zell or destroying Wrigley Field or putting up some sort of name.”
Thompson said he wouldn’t do anything to “destroy the charm” of Wrigley Field if the state buys the park and leases it to the new Cubs owners. “I love the Cubs,” he said.
But what about all that talk of relaxing or even abandoning the stadium’s landmark status? Thompson vowed to “keep those elements of Wrigley which are landmarked and which the city won’t agree to change,” like the signage out front. However, he said, he needed to make sure the park was “habitable” for the teams. Plus, luxury suites need to be added to produce revenues.
“We need to retain the charm and ambiance which brings a full house every game day and make it a decent, inhabitable revenue-producing stadium.”
Even without Zell’s remarks, Thompson would have a tough time. Illinois politics is an absolute mess right now. The Democrats are fighting each other, and nothing is getting done. The budget is deeply in the red. The governor’s adviser Tony Rezko is about to go on trial for corruption. It couldn’t get much worse.
And I admit my inherit bias at the end of the column…
All I know is Thompson’s game this spring will surely be more entertaining than anything played at Wrigley.
After hiring engineers to determine the cost of renovating 94-year-old Wrigley Field, the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority will make an offer to the Tribune Co. next week to buy the historic ballpark, a top official said Monday.
* Blair Kamin of the Tribune is dead-set against relaxing the landmark status…
Like any property owner, Zell has the right to request that landmark status be relaxed or even revoked. But he shouldn’t get special treatment, especially not if it endangers more of Chicago’s architectural gems. Mayor Richard M. Daley and his planners need to step up to the plate. For what’s at stake goes far beyond the name Wrigley Field.
* Since I wrote the above column, the Cubs have sent out a much milder spokesperson to talk about naming rights…
“We’re sensitive and I would think we would get some credit to the way we’ve run the ball park since the Tribune has owned. We haven’t ruined the ball park,” said Crane Kenney, the Tribune Co. executive in charge of the Cubs. […]
“I remember when lights were introduced and a number of people who said, ‘Nothing will be the same, the park will be ruined and the atmosphere is going to change.’ And it hasn’t,” Kenney added.
* The way you read the standard overly-long Tribune story is to scan the first couple of paragraphs, skip over most of the “we’ve gone over this a hundred times before” background in the middle, then head right to the bottom, where some of the more interesting stuff always seems to get buried. It was no different in today’s story about Tony Rezko’s trial…
Also listed as witnesses were Susan Lichtenstein, the former top lawyer in the Blagojevich administration
Lichtenstein walked off the job and took almost her entire top staff with her. It’s been a mystery for years exactly why she left (nobody will talk for publication), but the word was that she and her staff may have been protesting an order from on high.
* I told you about this late Friday, but let’s go over it again…
A judge on Friday ordered prosecutors in the Antoin “Tony” Rezko trial to steer clear of evidence intended to show that the longtime fundraiser for Gov. Rod Blagojevich manipulated the state hiring process.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve, who will preside at Rezko’s trial when it opens Monday, also prevents prosecutors from seeking to demonstrate Rezko was behind large political contributions to Blagojevich from two members of a corrupt state hospital regulatory panel.
The setbacks for the prosecution, however, do not strike at the heart of its case — that Rezko allegedly exploited his influence with the governor to scheme to illegally siphon millions of dollars from the hospital board and a state pension panel.
I dunno about that last assertion. Those contributions were thought to be key evidence that something was smelled bad at the hospital board. The judge also ruled that prosecutors couldn’t pursue the connection between Rezko and state hiring. Prosecutors, you will recall, were planning to call Jennifer Thomas as one of their main witnesses. Thomas was an assistant to Joe Cini, the governor’s former patronage chief.
[After Kelley had initially ordered the subpoenas relased] Blagojevich administration lawyers then said they had uncovered new evidence and asked Kelley to reconsider. The “new evidence” was a letter from an assistant in U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office asking that the administration not release the subpoenas because it “could impede the investigation … ”
“With two exceptions noted below, the U.S. Attorney’s Office continues to request that you not disclose the fact that the subpoenas have been served,” wrote Julie Rudner, assistant U.S. attorney. “Any such disclosure could impede the investigation and thereby interfere with the enforcement of law.”
Springfield attorney Don Craven, who represents the BGA, argued the letter said an investigation “could” be impeded, not that it would. He also maintained the letter did not constitute new evidence, and Kelley agreed, but added it would be “totally inappropriate” for the subpoenas to be released until the appeals process is completed.
So, we’re down to what “could” means? Full employment for lawyers.
In the end, our choice of Oberweis is based on the fact that he better represents a moderate to conservative district, and has grown into a more responsive and less confrontational candidate. And he did a far better job of explaining and supporting his positions than did Foster, who projected less certainty, less clarity and less confidence than he did before the primary.
So it’s Oberweis with our fingers crossed, and the knowledge that we can review the choice again.
What we hear over and over from Republicans and Democrats in our communities is that people are tired of the bickering and divisiveness in government, whether in Springfield or Washington. Oberweis’ relentless attacks on state Sen. Chris Lauzen in the Republican primary election hint that he is not the right candidate to end government gridlock.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has launched an $850,000 ad buy in former Rep. Dennis Hastert’s (R) district, with an ad accusing Democrat Bill Foster of being a big-government liberal and not representing change.
The NRCC’s investment in next Tuesday’s special election and GOP nominee Jim Oberweis is now up to about $1.2 million — a hefty sum for a committee that only recently got out of debt.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has spent just more than $600,000 on the race.
Foster will unveil a Barack Obama endorsement ad today.
* Andy Shaw did a nice roundup of the race. You can find their debate at that link as well.
* Halvorson mum as her airport deadline for the state passes
The Illinois Department of Transportation did not comply with Halvorson’s demand that it submit its long-awaited master plan for the airport near Peotone to the Federal Aviation Administration by March 1.
“I do not know which I am more appalled by: the lack of security of the ballots or the Election Commission’s failure to follow yet another Illinois election law directive,” Urda said at last week’s County Board meeting, outlining her latest allegation of two legal breaches by the commission during the Feb. 5 election
Extreme vulgarity and taunting by college basketball fans this season raise the question: How much is too much? For schools and conferences, it’s time to act
The project, from north of Clear Lake Avenue south to East Lake Drive, will begin March 9 and includes pavement patching, milling and resurfacing. It also will involve rehabilitation of the bridges on West Lake Drive and on Interstate 72 over South Sixth Street, which means there could be traffic tie-ups at the I-55/72 interchange.
“I will go to Senator (Dick) Durbin’s office and Representative (Tim) Johnson’s office and there are some meetings lined up to see what we can do to make our presence known and to see what we can do,” McCoy said.
“In the performance of his duties, President Stroger submitted his executive budget to the board’s finance committee on October 17, 2007,” says the complaint, filed in county court by Stroger, state’s attorney Richard Devine, and sheriff Tom Dart, naming all 17 board members as defendants.”
“This report confirms what many of us have said for years — that county government is a patronage dumping ground and run for the benefit of political workers and politicians instead of taxpayers,” said Commissioner Forrest Claypool, a Stroger critic. “We’ve seen another unnecessary half-billion-dollar tax increase to pay for the perpetuation of this system.”
* Prayer in Public Schools: Is the Illinois Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act Constitutional?
The Chicago Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACS) will host a panel discussion on Wednesday, March 5 at 12:15pm at John Marshall Law School, Room 200, 315 S. Plymouth Court, Chicago.
Even if Schock or state Sen. Debbie Halvorson, D-Crete, win their respective races for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, they are not obligated to close out their Illinois campaign funds, so long as they keep paying the filing fees twice a year.
A watchdog group today filed a complaint alleging that Collins withheld information on the political money she raises and spends. The Campaign for Political Reform wants the State Board of Elections to investigate.
A state legislative panel last week delivered an unmistakable “No” to the governor: You cannot massively expand health coverage in the state without legislative approval.
Barry Maram, the governor’s director of health care and family services, said the administration is not touting free insurance, but the opportunity for people to buy into affordable insurance policies.
* Bernard Schoenburg: Democrat has difficult fundraising battle in 18th District
For Callahan to raise the kind of money she is talking about would certainly be extraordinary for a Democrat in the 18th. But that, in part, is because the district, while changed periodically through redistricting, has been solidly held by LaHood and before him, then-U.S. House Minority Leader BOB MICHEL, R-Peoria, for decades.
Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Patrick Kelley once again ruled that the Better Government Association (“BGA”) and its Chief Investigator Dan Sprehe are fully entitled to copies of federal grand jury subpoenas that have been served upon the Governor and his staff. […]
Despite producing a recent letter from the U.S. Attorney’s office, containing the standard request for non-disclosure, nothing changed in terms of what the Illinois Freedom of Information Act requires. Judge Kelley upheld his earlier ruling that the BGA and Sprehe should receive the subpoenas.
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich appointed two elevator union members to a new elevator safety board about the time the union gave him a $10,000 contribution.
Records reviewed by The Associated Press show the appointments were made in July 2003. That was about two weeks before Blagojevich’s campaign cashed the check from Local 2 of the International Union of Elevator Constructors.
Frank Christensen is Local Two’s business manager and the elevator board’s chairman. He says he applied for the post but there was no connection between the contribution and the appointments.
*** 4:44 pm *** From the governor’s press office regarding Judge Kelley’s ruling today…
We will appeal. We also will continue to honor the US attorney’s request regarding release of the documents.
Sen. Brad Burzynski, R-Clare, said Monday that he doesn’t think NIU’s plan to replace Cole Hall, where a gunman recently killed five students plus himself, is going anywhere.
“Demolition is going to be taken off the table, and what I think is going to occur now is there is going to be discussion on campus of if there is good use for the building, what it should be and those kinds of things,” Burzynski said. […]
Gov. Rod Blagojevich, together with NIU President John Peters, announced the plan at NIU last Wednesday. Burzynski and Rep. Robert Pritchard, R-Sycamore, stood with them.
* 8:38 pm - The US Attorney’s office claimed recently that they were OK with the public release of two of their subpoenas of the governor’s office, but not others because doing so might interfere with the federal investigation.
Blagojevich released those two subpoenas tonight. It’s not clear if USA Patrick Fitzgerald has wrapped up the probes connected to those subpoenas or not, but here are a couple of stories…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office released a pair of year-and-a-half old federal subpoenas late Friday that are tied to the investigation of hiring irregularities in his administration.
In one of the subpoenas from spring 2006, federal authorities are seeking computer records from 17 state agencies and the governor’s office itself. In the other, authorities are seeking hiring scales for a few specific jobs with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the Department of Corrections.
The Tribune reported in 2006 that the governor’s chief legal counsel asked state agencies for the records as part of the federal investigation into hiring.
The release of the subpoenas came just before a Monday court hearing in which a judge is expected to decide whether the Blagojevich administration has to make public all of the subpoenas it has received in a far-ranging federal corruption probe.
The Better Government Association sued to gain access to those documents. And in late February, the governor’s office produced a letter from U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office asking that federal subpoenas remain private, except for the two that Blagojevich released late Friday.
* But there was a bit of good news for the guv on Friday…
A judge on Friday ordered prosecutors in the Antoin “Tony” Rezko trial to steer clear of evidence intended to show that the longtime fundraiser for Gov. Rod Blagojevich manipulated the state hiring process.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve, who will preside at Rezko’s trial when it opens Monday, also prevents prosecutors from seeking to demonstrate Rezko was behind large political contributions to Blagojevich from two members of a corrupt state hospital regulatory panel. [..]
The ruling puts some restrictions on testimony about several meetings in 2003 between Rezko and Blagojevich’s then-patronage chief, Joe Cini, who is under investigation in a separate federal probe of hiring in the Blagojevich administration. […]
The ruling allows prosecutors to pursue testimony about Rezko’s input on filling the board and commission posts, but not the state jobs.
* Monday is Casimir Pulaski Day, so we’re gonna use it to help make up for all the overtime last year. Enjoy. Head to Illinoize if you’re not a celebrant or if you just can’t get enough…
* In honor of Casimir Pulaski and all Polish people everywhere, here’s that great Polish punk band Abaddon…
[I’ve bumped this to the top and made it the QOTD. Instead of a question today, let’s send Rep. Watson our best wishes and our hopes for his speedy and safe return. Thanks.]
* Rep. Jim Watson sent me an e-mail frome Iraq this week and he told me yesterday that I could post it here. Watson is with the U.S. Marine Corps 3rd Civil Affairs Group in Fallujah.
Bethany Jaeger did a brief update on Rep. Watson at Illinoize this week. Watson was intending to blog at Illinoize himself, but he explains why that may not be possible…
Greetings from beautiful Fallujah. Things are going well here. I don’t think I will be able to blog because I doubt I will have the time to do it justice, but I sincerely appreciate the offer. Seems like most of my spare time is spent on e-mails from the office or calling in to check on things.
I also couldn’t blog because of the classified nature of the information that I handle. What I can tell you is that I am working on governance… I analyzed the three key pieces of legislation that recently passed the Council of Representatives: the FY08 budget (which is about $45-50 billion, yet only 12 pages long), the Amnesty Law, & Provincial Powers Law (which defines relationships between different governing bodies). Have given briefs to Marine Commanding General and that was certainly interesting.
Attended the Fallujah City Council meeting yesterday … felt like I was back in Springfield. Actually they have made amazing progress when you consider that 8 months ago the Marines had to repel an insurgent attack on the council meeting and the previous two council leaders were assassinated. Yesterday could have been a council meeting anywhere (with the exception of the Marine presence). Hope all is well in Springfield & I appreciate your website as it helps keep me abreast of the scene. Take care, Jim
Stay safe, man.
* Bethany also had this photo of Watson…
* And this explanation…
What’s in the bag? Watson said it held some of his gear. [Ben Jackson in Watson’s legislative office] said Watson replied, “Hey, you have to work with what’s available around here!”
As Rep. Watson said, he’s checking the blog. So you can use this opportunity to wish him well in comments.
* Despite the uproar in the media, the plan to spend $40 million to knock down Cole Hall and build something else has picked up another important supporter…
House Minority Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) said he supports the bill to allocate $40 million for the demolition of Cole Hall and the construction of Memorial Hall.
Senate President Emil Jones is also on board.
* But, man, that uproar is certainly picking up steam. The Tribune editorial page quotes one of its own readers today in a piece entitled “Time heals … not bulldozers”…
I think we can all agree 100 percent that there should be a memorial in or near Cole for the fallen victims, but is tearing the whole thing down letting Steven Kazmierczak win? Didn’t he want to instill fear in all of us?
* And WIU’s student newspaper jumps into the fray…
[Northern President John Peters] may say “an act of violence does not define” Northern, but we don’t think it’s appropriate or fair to let an act of violence finance them, either.
* This Belleville News-Democrat editorial gives new meaning to the word cynical…
It’s nothing new for Gov. Rod Blagojevich to latch onto the news of the day and play politics with it. But his political opportunism over the Northern Illinois University tragedy is a disgusting, potentially expensive ploy. […]
Of course, doing something for NIU never was the point for Blagojevich; he just wanted another headline.
* The Daily Herald might’ve even one-upped the BND…
Either the governor thinks he’s running for some future office again or he’s working on burnishing a legacy tarnished by pay-to-play corruption allegations and the coming trial of his prolific fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko. Governor, your legacy would be much improved if you would stop handing out our money quite so easily.
In 1988 — 20 years ago this May — a deranged woman named Laurie Dann walked into Winnetka’s Hubbard Woods Elementary School and shot six kids, killing Nick Corwin, 8, a fine soccer player.
No one felt compelled to tear down Hubbard Woods. Just the opposite. Dann terrorized the school on a Friday. The next day — the very next day — those schoolchildren were brought back to the school, even though it was a Saturday.
“We want parents and children to get a reconfirmed feeling that the school is a safe place,'’ Winnetka School Supt. Donald Monroe said then.
How can it be that we don’t even consider asking college students of today to show the fortitude that we once expected of 6-year-olds?
* Todd Stroger is usually his own worst enemy, but there is no way he’s as bad as the media has made him out to be. Yesterday, he let the pressure get to him and unloaded…
“My fault is actually running for office and being Todd Stroger. Being Todd Stroger means that there are going to be a certain amount of people who are going to be against me. The media are going to try to pull me over the rails. And that means they talk to the public. The public sees the government is not operating efficiently no matter what we’re doing.”
* It really does seem that everybody wants to believe the absolute worst about this guy. It’s more intense than the hatred of Blagojevich. And his coverage is slanted far more negatively. This is a bit much…
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s latest choice for public relations chief has a tough job. Before he can begin to try to clean up his boss’ image, Gene Mullins has a PR problem of his own.
He’ll have to answer criticisms that Stroger’s hiring practices resemble a “friends and family plan.”
The rub for Mullins? He’s a childhood friend of Stroger.
Except he’s also a PR guy with the Chicago Police Department.
I’m sure most of you will tee off as usual. But, for once, try to take a deep breath here.
A compromise has been struck in the long-festering Cook County budget debate, sources said. Cook County Board President Todd Stroger has reached a deal to raise the county sales tax from .75 percent to 1.75 percent, according to four county officials. […]
The swing vote, sources said, comes from Commissioner Larry Suffredin — who demanded Stroger give up control of the hospital system to an independent board of outside professionals. In exchange, Suffredin will agree to vote for a 1 percent sales tax hike, giving Stroger his needed ninth vote to make it pass.
The move would give Chicago one of the highest sales taxes in the nation. But that, coupled with other, smaller tax hikes and some cuts, will balance the 2008 budget.
It will also likely generate enough revenue to prevent Stroger from having to seek another tax hike in 2009.
* “Villified” might be another way of putting it. Here’s Neil Steinberg…
The values that working people cling to — family, tradition, community — are just another line item on the ledger to rich folk. Sometimes, those concerns pay; sometimes, they don’t.
Why else would the Berghoff family dump its century-old name in order to jettison its union employees? Why else would the new owner of Marshall Field’s scrap it to save money on shopping bags?
And Sam Zell. This newspaper is appealing to his civic spirit, asking him not to auction off the name “Wrigley Field” to the highest bidder. Naive. That’s like urging a buzzard not to feed on the body of a poet.
* The Sun-Times is even sponsoring a song contest…
Attention Cubs and Sox fans: Write a song about Sam Zell’s attempt to sell off the name of Wrigley Field, put it on video, upload it to www.YouTube.com and submit a link to your YouTube video below.
* But it’s not all about the Sun-Times vs. Tribune fight. Fan bloggers are getting into the act. I like the title of this one: Sam Zell: The Anti-Christ, The Anti-Cub
And, so, you read the story as your oatmeal grows cold, disbelieving that cruel, raw greed can replace the human heart, though you know it can because it always has.
The indignation that’s being thrown on this fire is humorous. People are getting upset that a moneymaking enterprise (Tribune Co.) is trying to make more money. And this surprises you how? Just because you’ve become emotionally attached to Wrigley Field doesn’t change the fact the building exists to extract money from your wallets and purses. That is its only purpose in life.
As far as I can tell, that’s the only mention of Zell in Mother Tribune’s august pages today.
The real story is that the Cubs believe they’re closing in on a deal to sell Wrigley Field to the state. The bigger sell is the one they’re trying to make to the fans, consistently stating that by unloading the park separately they will ensure the club stays at Clark and Addison for the next 30 years.
* Thoughts on Zell? The sale to the state? The Cubs in general? Have at it.
There’s an irony in Ryan being sent to Terre Haute. The federal prison system’s only death chamber is housed at a neighboring, high-security institution. Ryan spent much of his last years as governor opposing the death penalty, emptied Illinois Death Row in 2003 and imposed a moratorium on executions in Illinois.
“As long as I’m the governor of Illinois, I will do everything in my power to prevent it from being a toll bridge,” Blagojevich said during a press conference held at a union hall belonging to Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 562 in North St. Louis County.
“When we passed that bill we did something unique, we increased sales taxes on local counties without local county input,” Franks said during a House Mass Transit Committee hearing. “To the best of my knowledge, that’s never been done before in the history of the state of Illinois.”
“I’m going beyond the fact that jobs are being offered to what it means to people and families with children and having to move their families,” Sen. Wilhelmi said.
* Legislators expect hearings on partial Joliet prison closing
* National party committees stepping up push in 14th
In just the last two weeks, the Democratic National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee have spent nearly $127,000 in the race to replace retired Rep. Dennis Hastert.
The committee alleged that Oberweis failed to notify the FEC or Democrat Bill Foster’s campaign of the three loans within 24 hours - - a violation of the Millionaires’ Amendment contained in the most recent revamp of federal campaign law.
loans
* The Choice in the 11th Could Boost
All GOP Fortunes
If Republicans are shrewd in their selection in the 11th, they could utterly reverse those odds, taking Roskam’s seat out of serious Democratic calculations altogether.
U.S. District Judge J. Phil Gilbert rejected the deal as it stood Thursday, listing concerns that included the proposed 6-year prison sentence. The original charges against Lakin carried a possible sentence of life in prison and a fine of more than $2 million.
* Daley names leader for panel to recommend property tax changes
In a press release, Mr. Daley said Andrew Mooney, executive director of the Local Initiative Support Corp., has agreed to chair the 22-member committee and submit a list of recommendations for long-range changes in two months.
