No. Yes. No. Yes.
Monday, Jan 24, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
Is this a flip or a flop?
Just a year ago, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (bluh-GOY’-uh-vitch) said he wanted to end exceptions to daily physical education classes in public schools.
Now his State Board of Education is suggesting ways to make it easier for schools to eliminate P-E. A report to the Legislature says state law could be changed to allow automatic exemptions in certain cases like for kids who play sports.
Spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch (ROWSH’) says Blagojevich is not reversing his position. She says Blagojevich believes schools should require physical activity but he is willing to help them eliminate bureaucracy to cut PE classes.
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Yeesh
Monday, Jan 24, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
Disgusting.
A trial date of Feb. 28 has been set for James Camden, the 44-year-old Murphysboro man accused of attacking a referee during football game more than 17 months ago.
Camden is accused of attacking veteran Southern Illinois official Mike Byrne of Marion on Sept. 22, 2003, during a sophomore football game at West Frankfort. […]
The incident took place with approximately two minutes left in the first half and with West Frankfort ahead by three touchdowns. Byrne stopped the game and told fellow referee and crew chief Tony Gualdoni of Herrin that he was ejecting a Murphysboro fan (Camden) for unsportsman-like behavior that included a continuous barrage of harassment and vulgar language directed at the officiating crew and the players.
After notifying Gualdoni, Byrne then notified West Frankfort athletic director Richard Glodich that he wanted Camden removed from the field. According to the police report that was filed, as Glodich approached the Murphysboro bleachers Camden allegedly ran past a restraining wire leading to the field and grabbed Byrne around the neck with both hands.
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Gidwitz
Monday, Jan 24, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
In a decision that had been rumored for months, Chicago businessman Ronald Gidwitz is forming an exploratory committee, the first formal step toward a possible race for governor in 2006.
“Our children are not getting the education they need. Our jobs and doctors are leaving the state,†says Mr. Gidwitz in a statement posted on his new web site: ron2006.com. “I know we can do better. That’s why I’m considering a run to represent you—all of Illinois—as your Republican governor.â€
Discuss at will.
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Madigan expands police powers
Monday, Jan 24, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
I can imagine what more libertarian bloggers are gonna say about this, and I’ll probably agree with much of it.
The Supreme Court gave police broader search powers Monday during traffic stops, ruling in an Illinois case that drug-sniffing dogs can be used to check out motorists even if officers have no reason to suspect they might be carrying narcotics.
In a 6-2 decision, the court sided with Illinois police who stopped Roy Caballes in 1998 along Interstate 80 for driving 6 miles over the speed limit. Although Caballes lawfully produced his driver’s license, troopers brought over a drug dog after Caballes seemed nervous.
The dog sniffed out $250,000 worth of marijuana in Caballes’ trunk. The Las Vegas resident was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 12 years in prison, but his conviction was overturned when the Illinois Supreme Court ruled the troopers improperly broadened an ordinary traffic stop.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, despite having limited trial experience, personally argued the case before the Supreme Court.
I think one of the morals here is if you’ve got a quarter million dollars of weed in your trunk, drive the friggin’ speed limit.
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Jackson and Hizzoner
Monday, Jan 24, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
Two columns on Congressman Jesse Jackson’s recent comments about Mayor Daley and the city council sheep.
One, by the Southtown’s Phil Kadner, has some realism buried deep down in the piece:
What Jackson doesn’t realize is that many of the voices urging him to run today will be cheering for Daley tomorrow.
These are the same folks in the news media who denounce Daley for using O’Hare Airport as a personal cash station but then urge the federal government to give him billions of dollars for O’Hare expansion.
Business leaders, who benefit from Chicago’s graft themselves, will put millions in Daley’s political warchest.
Reporters will be scouring the Jackson family history for dirt.
Run, Jesse, run, as fast as your legs can carry you back to Washington, D.C.
Run for mayor and there will be three other black candidates in the race before you can say, “What’s that other Jesse Jackson Jr. doing on the ticket again?”
That’s exactly right.
The other, by the Sun-Times’ Mark Brown, is more encouraging for the congressman:
Jackson volunteers that his remarks come at a time when Daley has been interfering with his top priority: the proposal to build a south suburban airport. In particular, he says Daley has applied behind the scenes pressure for him to abandon the two northwest suburban communities — Bensenville and Elk Grove Village — that so far have bankrolled the third-airport effort.
This is a tricky business for Jackson. If he’s serious about the problems in Daley’s set-aside program, he’ll need to follow through.
If it turns out he’s just using the controversy to get what he wants on the airport, he’ll eventually be sorry he spoke up.
I look forward to hearing him more.
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Jacobs
Monday, Jan 24, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
Still nothing official, and still no target date, but Sen. Denny Jacobs is inching closer to retirement.
After more than three decades in public service, State Sen. Denny Jacobs is seriously thinking about retirement.
Jacobs, a Democrat from East Moline, Ill., told the Clinton Herald in a telephone interview Friday he is about ready to end a 33-year career as an elected official. He has spent almost 20 years as a state senator in a district that includes the western part of Carroll and Whiteside counties.
“It’s time for new blood,” Jacobs said. “It’s a new system out there and it’s time for young minds to come to bear.” […]
“My son has been with me all along,” Jacobs said. “He knows how I think and he’ll be able to pick up some of the things that I’ve been carrying and carry on into the future. But that will be up to the committee chairmen. We have met with them and hopefully that’s who their decision will be.”
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Abortion stuff
Monday, Jan 24, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
This article lays out the abortion issue in Illinois pretty well.
The start of President Bush’s second term is encouraging for anti-abortion forces and dismaying to abortion rights advocates.
But both sides agree on one thing: It will be several years before any major push to outlaw abortion comes to Illinois — if it does at all.
“Four years is a realistic best case scenario for my group,” said Ralph Rivera, director of Illinois Citizens for Life, an anti-abortion group that was buoyed by Bush’s re-election and the addition of four more GOP members to the U.S. Senate in November. […]
Rivera said he’s approaching the looming battle methodically.
“It’s like watching a football game and the first guy who scores a touchdown goes nuts. You say, ‘What is he doing? The game’s not over,’” said Rivera. “This is just the first or second step. You don’t go nuts until the final step. And even then you’ve got to be vigilant.”
Similarly, abortion rights groups are taking a step-by-step approach to the situation.
Soon after the election, Planned Parenthood began pushing Illinois lawmakers to approve a measure that would ensure Illinois will continue to follow the tenets of Roe v. Wade in the event each state is given the opportunity to decide whether abortion is legal.
Observers say Planned Parenthood is unlikely to have much success in that campaign.
“In the status quo, it might be hard to pass such a bill,” said Steve Brown, a spokesman for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, a Catholic who considers himself an abortion foe.
Read the whole thing. It’s a good one.
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Longo and Blago
Friday, Jan 21, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
The governor’s relationship with Dominic Longo and his comments about the controversial political organizer/fixer/etc. have changed over the years:
On Tuesday, Blagojevich said he believed in giving Longo a chance at rehabilitation in 1996 but broke ties with him in recent years because of his questionable work history with the city. Longo has bounced from department to department, leaving one job after reports that he did personal chores on city time.
“I’ve made it clear that some of the individuals that have been named in that organization have no place in state government with me,'’ Blagojevich said.
Blagojevich has praised Longo for his help getting Blagojevich elected to Congress in 1996, and Longo’s group has contributed money to the campaign funds of Blagojevich and his father-in-law, Ald. Dick Mell (33rd). Blagojevich insists neither Longo nor Boyle has any role in his campaign, but Ryan released a videotape this week purportedly showing the two at a Northwest Side political office plastered with signs promoting Blagojevich and other Democrats.
The Chicago Sun Times (10/9, Fornek) reports Jim Ryan “unleashed his own barrage at Blagojevich for political contributions the Northwest Side congressman accepted from a group of political operatives called the Coalition for Better Government. Ryan produced documents showing the group contributed $47,080 between 1997 and last June to the political war chests of Blagojevich or his father-in-law, Chicago Ald. Richard Mell (33rd). […]
Doug Scofield “said that only $4,750 of the $47,080 went directly to Blagojevich, and he returned it all to the group. ‘Rod is his own man, and he runs his own campaign,’ Scofield said.”
Blagojevich publicly thanked Longo for his campaign help in 1996 when he won his first primary for Congress. But he said he has become concerned about Longo’s questionable work history with the city of Chicago since then.
Blagojevich said Longo, a volunteer, never was on his campaign payroll and that he’s not even sure he knew about Longo’s vote fraud conviction during the 1996 campaign.
Vote fraud felon Dominic Longo has landed on a new government payroll — the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District — just a week after he took early retirement from the Chicago Park District.
Gov. Blagojevich’s office denies a claim it got Longo the job. […]
He took early retirement March 31. On April 7, he became an aide to Water Reclamation Commissioner Frank Avila Sr.
Avila declined comment, but another aide, Howard Handler, issued this statement: “Mr. Longo’s impropriety occurred over 20 years ago. He has since worked with distinction in public service, and his experience and qualifications will be an asset to the district. This is a non-issue.”
Avila’s son, Frank Avila Jr., who lost a bid in March to join his father at the district, said Blagojevich’s chief of staff, Lon Monk, approached him about getting Longo a job at the district.
“Dominic Longo came highly recommended by the governor’s chief of staff, Lon Monk,” Avila Jr. said. “Lon Monk personally asked me to help him out.”
Monk, through a spokesman, denied seeking a job for Longo.
“He did not recommend and has never recommended Dominic Longo for a job and he really doesn’t even know Mr. Longo, so he wouldn’t be in a position to do so,” said Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottendorf.
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Longo Spills
Friday, Jan 21, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
Here’s the letter I wrote about in today’s “extra.” It’s a draft version, with one sentence redacted.
As I told you in Capitol Fax, the governor’s office has refused to comment.
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Emil channels Dangerfield
Friday, Jan 21, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
ILLINOIS ISSUES: Do you feel that you’re given the respect that you deserve as a legislative leader? Do you feel you get as much respect as, say, House Speaker Michael Madigan, be it in the media or elsewhere?
SENATE PRESIDENT EMIL JONES: Let me put it this way to you: I’ve known Speaker Madigan for many years. Ten years I spent in the House with him. He has acquired quite a bit of knowledge and so forth. But everything has changed now. At one point he was the only Democrat in the state that Democrats could go to. Now they have myself and the governor to go to. So it’s a shared responsibility.
Now, if those of you in the media think otherwise, that’s your problem. I’ve never considered it my problem. That’s your problem because it tells me that you really don’t understand it.
In other words, “No.”
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Sticker shock
Thursday, Jan 20, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
I think when I went to Sangamon State University in the 1980s tuition was $850 a semester. The school is now called the University of Illinois at Springfield and, according to this article, with the just announced tuition increase, students will have to pay $12,950 a year to attend.
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Retraction
Thursday, Jan 20, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
Here it is:
January 20, 2005
Dear Mr. Kelly:
I wish to put the issues that have arisen between you and me to rest. Thus, I am writing this letter with the hope of accomplishing that goal. It was never my intention to impugn your reputation. I know that you would never compromise your integrity. When I said that you, as the Governor’s chief fundraiser, traded appointments to commissions and state boards for $50,000 donations I knew that to be inaccurate. My comments were based upon my misreading of earlier published reports and were an exaggerated extrapolation made by me in the heat of the moment. Moreover, I have, in fact, no personal knowledge, now or then, of any contributions being made in exchange for any board or commission appointments. I merely meant to say that the Governor’s high profile and public familiarity with his agenda makes fundraising efforts easier for those involved in the process. I hope this statement puts an end to any further public discussion between us on this issue.
I am sorry for any distress that my comments may have caused you or your family.
Very truly yours,
Richard F. Mell (signed)
Alderman - 33rd Ward
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The empire strikes back
Thursday, Jan 20, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
From a letter to the editor in today’s Daily Southtown:
While the Coalition for Better Government (CBG) undisputably has worked very hard for countless candidates, we also have become a victim of our own successes. […]
We were there for Blagojevich when he ran for state representative. We were there for him when he ran for Congress. And yes, we were there when he ran for governor.
Undoubtedly, if it were not for the support of Ald. Dick Mell and the Coalition for Better Government, Blagojevich would have simply remained a rinky-dink attorney to this day. Rod depended on us, and we were a very significant source of help in his elections.
We knocked on doors, passed out literature and put up signs. Rod combed his hair and shook hands. Rod was close to us and has publicly thanked CBG on a number of occasions. […]
Dominic Longo
Co-chairman
Coalition for Better Government
Chicago
This letter is quite amazing, and it turns out to be the real deal.
“We called and cofirmed with Longo and he said he wrote it,” said Ed Koziarski, the Southtown’s editorial page editor a few minutes ago.
The Republicans and the governor’s Democratic critics are gonna have a field day with this one. Here’s a bit from an online bio of Longo, a former captain in Dick Mell’s 33rd Ward Organization and the guy who helped elevate a “rinky-dink attorney” to the governor’s office:
# Vote Fraud–Longo was charged with vote fraud (stuffing ballot boxes) in 1984 while working as a precinct captain for 33rd Alderman Dick Mell.
# Licenses for bribes–In 1995, the Illinois Secretary of State busted a testing operation run by Longo crony Guy Dettio, and Teamsters Local 726 member / boss Thomas Clair. The operation involved handing out Illinois trucking licensees to people not eligible to take the test. Clair eventually told a reporter, Dave Savini from NBC 5, that Longo himself had ordered the union leader to pass whoever the airport manager sent in for testing (the City of Chicago had ‘licensing authority’). Sixteen trucking licenses were revoked as a result of the investigation. For three months, Longo’s department was not allowed to administer the tests.
# Extortion–In November 1995, the City of Chicago Inspector General’s office was investigating allegations that Longo may have solicited truck drivers assigned to snow removal and other season work at O’Hare “to pay a couple thousand dollars†in exchange for year round jobs with full time benefits. Allegations also surfaced that Longo was selling jobs, extorting money out of city employees and forcing them to work on campaigns while on city time. He was forced out of his position and moved to another department.
# Ethics violations–In September 1998, a team of city lawyers was attempting to determine if City Department of Revenue chief Ron Calicchio was breaking city laws by raising political cash from city businesses that are regulated by his department. These businesses were being ‘asked’ to contribute to The Coalition of Better Government, run by Calicchio and his partner, Dominic Longo.
# Ghost payrolling–In October 2000, the Chicago Inspector General’s Office, during a investigation of Longo, documents him going to Ultimate Exposure Tanning, Bally’s Total Fitness, Café Cappucino, Caputo’s Food Market, Dei Giovanni’s Men’s wear, and City One apparel on city time. Longo resigns his position with the city in November 2000.
For these reasons and many more, Blagojevich claimed he barred the CBG from working on his 2002 campaign. I’m attempting to reach Mr. Longo at the moment. Capitol Fax subscribers should stay tuned.
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Too late
Thursday, Jan 20, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
Glad to see this is finally winding down, but the investigation rolls on.
Chicago Ald. Richard Mell (33rd) and top gubernatorial fund-raiser Christopher Kelly have reached agreement on a statement in which Mr. Mell apparently will recant his charge that Mr. Kelly sold positions in Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration in exchange for campaign donations.
Robert Clifford, a personal injury lawyer retained by Mr. Kelly, said the statement will be released at a press conference later this afternoon.
Mr. Clifford characterized the statement as “a retraction†and said Mr. Kelly “is satisfied with the outcome. Justice has been served.â€
Mr. Mell’s attorney, Paul Levy, declined to use the word retraction, but said Mr. Mell will concede in the statement that he erred.
“I think it’s fair to say he misspoke under a moment of emotional pressure,†Mr. Levy said. “He made a mistake. (Now) he wants to do the right thing.â€
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