Open thread
Thursday, Aug 15, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Democratic County Chairs Association continued Illinois’ unfortunate tradition of state fair typos yesterday…
* I’m heading out to Republican Day at the Illinois State Fair. Keep your comments Illinois-centric and please be nice to each other. Thanks.
36 Comments  
|
Question of the day
Thursday, Aug 15, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* NBC 5…
Five teenagers were charged Tuesday evening after a 14-year-old boy was killed in a shooting that authorities say stemmed from an attempted car theft in the north suburbs, sparking a police chase that ended in dramatic arrests caught on camera in Chicago earlier in the day.
The five teens, one 16-year-old, three 17-year-olds and an 18-year-old were charged with first degree murder, according to police.
Although all four juveniles are being charged as adults, they are being held at Vernon Hills, while the oldest suspect, identified as Diamond C. Davis, is the only one who was sent to Lake County Jail.
“The teens were charged due to them being in commission of a forcible felony, when the 14-year-old victim was shot and subsequently died as a result of being shot during the commission of a burglary,” indicated the Lake County Sherrif’s Office in a statement.
* ABC…
Armed with a revolver, the homeowner told authorities he was standing on his porch, yelling at them to leave, when two of the individuals “quickly approached him,” Covelli said. The man said he saw that one of the teens “holding something in his hand,” so he discharged his firearm at least three times out of fear for his and his wife’s safety.
The homeowner then called 911 to request an ambulance, and the teens fled, Covelli said.
About three miles from the man’s home, officers from the Gurnee Police Department responded to a crash involving an SUV, Covelli said. When the officers approached the 2015 Lexus, two people exited the vehicle — one of whom had a gunshot wound to his head.
The four people who were still in the SUV fled the scene “at high rate of speed,” reaching 120 mph on Interstate 94 as they were chased all the way back to Chicago by law enforcement officers from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, the Gurnee Police Department and Illinois State Police.
* Tribune…
“The felony murder law is in place to discourage people from committing forcible felonies, because if someone dies during the commission of a forcible felony, then it’s first-degree murder,” [Lake County State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim] said.
Illinois is among the minority of states with the broadest possible application of the felony murder rule, said Steven Drizin, clinical law professor at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.
Drizin said the scope of the Illinois law can be problematic, especially when defendants are teenagers, who tend to commit crimes in groups and are more impulsive and less deliberate in their actions.
“The legislature needs to act to narrow the scope of Illinois’ felony murder rule,” he said, citing the Lake County case as an example. “Especially in light of the fact that the penalties for both the underlying felony and murder are severe — and in the case of murder, mandatory. There is more than enough room to adequately punish these teenagers by sentencing them within the range of sentences for the burglary charge.”
* Dahleen Glanton…
House Bill 1615, introduced in January by state Rep. Justin Slaughter, D-Chicago, would ensure that anyone who does not personally inflict an injury during the course of a felony is not charged with first-degree murder. Only the culpable person would face charges. That’s how it should be for everyone, but especially for children. […]
The Supreme Court has acknowledged that youthful offenders lack maturity and are therefore more reckless and impulsive than adults. Anyone who has raised a teenager knows this.
It is wrong to charge teenagers with a murder they clearly did not intend to happen and likely never even considered might happen. […]
They fled in the stolen SUV, leading a bevy of law enforcement officials on a high-speed chase from Lake County to Chicago before running out of gas.
For that, they deserve to be punished. They do not deserve to spend decades of their young adult life behind bars for a murder they did not commit.
* The Question: Should Illinois’ felony murder rule be narrowed? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
bike trails
65 Comments
|
* Chris Kaergard at the Journal Star…
“To me, Blagojevich is the definition of the swamp.”
That was part of the message U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood conveyed to President Donald Trump last Thursday in a phone call, hours after the president had suggested he was “strongly” considering commuting the 14-year prison sentence of disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich. […]
LaHood’s call was made to emphasize objections Illinois Republican lawmakers had to releasing Blagojevich roughly halfway through his time behind bars. LaHood detailed the case he made to Trump and White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney during an interview Wednesday morning in his Downtown Peoria office.
“If you look at the conduct Blagojevich engaged in, it was pervasive, it was extensive,” he said, noting that it wasn’t just political favor-trading over a Senate seat, but rather a litany of malfeasance: “shaking down the children’s hospital, racetrack owner, film producer, the direct pay-for-play politics.”
* The level of ignorance about the Blagojevich case is simply astounding…
Reps. Darin LaHood and Mike Bost, made their case directly to the President on Thursday night, urging him not to go forward. They laid out the litany of crimes Blagojevich committed while in office and argued it would send the wrong message to voters about corruption by public officials.
Trump’s response: “I wish I had the perspective before,” according to Bost, who served on the Illinois House’s impeachment committee to remove Blagojevich from office in 2009. […]
Multiple sources familiar with the calls said Trump and [White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney] both did not seem aware of the details of Blagojevich’s case, even though the President had decried the former governor as being treated “unbelievably unfairly.”
Bost said that while Trump “saw a sentence that didn’t meet the crime … he did express he wished he had the perspective earlier” after speaking with Bost.
* Fox 32…
“Listen, I don’t think the President understood the extensive nature of the public corruption that Rod Blagojevich had engaged in. And when I laid that out for him, I think he was surprised by those facts. But I think he listened,” said Rep. LaHood.
* More…
Since Trump is fixated on former FBI director James Comey, LaHood also emphasized that he had nothing to do with prosecuting Blagojevich.
LaHood also noted that Democrats Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot are against clemency.
“They were surprised to know that and that Democrats removed him from office,” he said.
Wow.
* Related…
* State seeks to disbar ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich from practicing law more than 8 years after conviction: Grogan said the delay in moving to disbar Blagojevich came because, by Illinois law, regulators have to wait until all appellate options are over before moving to permanently revoke a lawyer’s license.
42 Comments
|
Caption contest!
Thursday, Aug 15, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* After winning a bag toss game against the former president 21-14…
25 Comments
|
Governor’s Day roundup
Thursday, Aug 15, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
Addressing more than 2,000 people at the annual pre-fair brunch of the Democratic County Chairs’ Association, Pritzker cited “the insidious danger of a campaign by some elected representatives who suggest that Illinois would be better off divided into pieces — that if you live in one part of the state, that you’re less patriotic or less American than if you live in another part of the state.”
“Illinois’ success relies on all of us,” echoed Kristina Zahorik, the president of the county chairs group. “Democrats will not be divided by race, by gender or by whom they love. We will not be swayed by small-minded Republicans who seek to build a wall against Chicago and strive to use diversity as a political weapon.” […]
In her speech, Pelosi borrowed on Pritzker’s campaign slogan in telling the crowd, “You think big. You get big things done.” She said “persistent, bold experimentation” was the “vitality of the Democratic Party.”
Noting national party concerns over attracting Midwest voters who backed Trump over Hillary Clinton in 2016, Pelosi said Democrats across the country hope to “catch the spark of Illinois, the spark of the heartland of America where our victory in 2020 will spring from.”
* Sun-Times…
The first-time governor painted Illinois as the state that’s doing it right as a battle is underway “for the soul of our nation.”
“Here in Illinois, we built a wall around our country’s most sacred and important values. And we told America that we will keep those values safe until sanity is restored to the White House,” Pritzker said.
“And if Donald Trump wants a piece of that wall, well then he’ll have to go through me,” Pritzker said, and gesturing to the litany of Democrats on hand, including Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, U.S. Represenatives Lauren Underwood and Sean Casten and congressional candidate Betsy Dirksen Londrigan. […]
Pelosi, who never directly mentioned Trump’s name, said the president “has no respect for God’s creation, the land of America.”
* Center Square…
“But right now there is a battle being waged for the soul of our nation, and in the last eight months, Illinois has found its anthem,” Pritzker said.
Pritzker championed the legislative accomplishments he was able to secure with Democratic majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly. Those accomplishments included expanding abortion rights, raising the state’s minimum wage, tax increases to fund a statewide infrastructure bill and recreational cannabis legalization, among other measures.
Pritzker struck a partisan tone Wednesday morning, where he went after Republicans, especially President Donald Trump.
“They put on a red hat and they want to say ‘let’s make America great again,’ ” Pritzker said. “It’s a president who thinks that we are so blind that we don’t see right through his racism and xenophobia.”
* Trib…
Mayor Lori Lightfoot taped a message for the Democratic event that praised Pritzker and legislative leaders for pushing to raise the minimum wage, legalizing recreational marijuana and passed a “real'’ infrastructure bill. She also said Democrats need to fight to unseat Trump. We need to stay united and do everything in our power to defeat Donald Trump and the people around him who look the other way as he undermines the foundations of our Democracy.”
* SJ-R…
Springfield lies in the 13th Congressional District where Democrat Betsy Dirksen Londrigan is trying to unseat incumbent Republican Rodney Davis in what promises to be a hotly contested race. Davis often tries to link Londrigan with Pelosi who can be a polarizing figure in her own right. Asked about being used as a campaign foil by Davis, Pelosi said the Democrats have done quite well despite the attacks.
“In this last election, Republicans had 137,000 ads describing me as a San Francisco liberal, which I proudly am,” Pelosi said. “They are not saying it in a complimentary way. It didn’t work. We won 43 seats. We’ve heard that before.”
Prior to the Democrats’ brunch, Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, said Pelosi’s appearance in Springfield was a plus for Londrigan.
“Nancy Pelosi used to be a polarizing figure. Now she’s the center of the Democratic Party,” Cullerton said.
* Bernie…
(F)reshman Democratic Gov. J.B. PRITZKER framed the picnic he hosted (and paid for personally) at the Director’s Lawn at the State Fair as a bipartisan event, and said he invited all lawmakers, including Republicans.
Well, House GOP Leader JIM DURKIN, R-Western Springs, said he never got an invitation, and ELENI DEMERTZIS, his spokeswoman, said some others in the caucus she checked with didn’t receive invitations either.
JORDAN ABUDAYYEH, spokeswoman for Pritzker, said invitations went out to all legislative district offices on July 22 and a follow-up was sent last week.
One GOP lawmaker who did receive the invitation was Rep. TIM BUTLER of Springfield. […]
If the governor really wants to change the culture of the day, Butler said, the governor’s office “should have done a much better job explaining it,” possibly contacting GOP leaders to get them on board. Butler opted not to go.
30 Comments
|
* This early exit is highly unusual…
Lots of internal turmoil in that office.
*** UPDATE *** With a hat tip to a subscriber, this is from October 6, 2017…
After just 88 days in Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration, former Illinois Policy Institute head Kristina Rasmussen is out as the governor’s chief of staff — leaving a job she said she knew would be “rife with promise but would come with a lot of turbulence.”
Needless to say, this is not the path the mayor wants to be following.
30 Comments
|
* Politico…
JESSE WHITE says he won’t seek a seventh term as Illinois Secretary of State when he’s up for re-election in 2022. “This is my last tour of duty,” the 85-year-old told Playbook at the Illinois State Fair.
Asked whether he might step down before his term is up, he said “No way. I’m seeing it all the way through.”
This isn’t the first time White has said he’d retire. Back in 2015, in an eerily similar interview at the State Fair, White told a Sun-Times reporter that he didn’t plan on seeking a sixth term. “This is my last tour of duty,” he said at the time. Two years later, he changed his mind and in 2018, he won re-election handily.
Back then, White was working with a Republican governor and may have wanted to run just to be assured his seat stayed in Democratic hands. With J.B. Pritzker now in the governor’s office, even if he were to decide not to finish out his term, White could leave knowing a Democrat would be named to fill his seat.
This is actually the third time White has made this vow. He said the same thing in 2010.
So, I can’t help but wonder whether he will actually serve out his full term.
35 Comments
|
* US Senate candidate and former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran spoke to the Illinois Republican State Central Committee/County Chairman’s Association Breakfast this morning…
My name is Mark Curran and I’m here to take out slick Dick Durbin [applause]. Slick Dick has been in office for over three decades, four terms as a United States Senator. … He’s as partisan a member of the United States Senate as there is. He’s in leadership, but ultimately his god is power.
Today for Catholics is the Feast of the Assumption. The archbishop down the street said that Dick Durbin cannot accept communion in the Roman Catholic Church. It means nothing to Dick Durbin because Dick Durbin is about power, that’s what drives him, that’s all that matters to him… He’s a dangerous guy… I need you to help me kick slick Dick to the curb.
* Curran explained his narrow 2018 reelection loss…
Lake County is not purple, it’s blue, folks. You know, the wrong people moved in, what have you. We need to change that and we will!
* On his switch from the Democratic to Republican parties…
I said they’re heading for evil, I want nothing to do with that, I’m done.
*** UPDATE *** Meanwhile, US Senate candidate Peggy Hubbard claimed she had to literally fight off a forced abortion while serving in the Reagan-era armed forces and said Sen. Durbin has never set foot in East St. Louis (the town of his birth). She also touted her fight to stop the removal of statues honoring the Confederacy. I kid you not.
…Adding… One of those “wrong people”?…
A traffic altercation near Gurnee Wednesday morning led to a felony hate crime charge against a man from unincorporated Gurnee who attacked a motorcyclist with an ice pick while yelling “racial slurs and racial expletives,” according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. […]
A 57-year-old man from unincorporated Gurnee called the sheriff’s office around 11:35 a.m. Wednesday after he said he was attacked by a man wielding an ice pick and shouting racial slurs and expletives, according to the news release.
The man, who police said was Hispanic and had a Mexican flag on his motorcycle, had been traveling northbound on North Delany Road near Sunset Avenue in unincorporated Gurnee when a 2009 Hyundai SUV abruptly changed lanes and cut him off, according to the release.
84 Comments
|
|
Comments Off
|
Open thread
Wednesday, Aug 14, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I’m heading to Governor’s Day and then the GOP events. Blogging will be light to perhaps non-existent. Monitor our live coverage post while I’m away. As always, please keep your conversations Illinois-centric and be nice to each other. Thanks.
43 Comments
|
New laws
Wednesday, Aug 14, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release from yesterday…
Governor JB Pritzker signed two new laws expanding insurance coverage for children whose allergies require live-saving EpiPens and Illinoisans suffering from Lyme disease.
“This legislation takes a big step forward in protecting our children and families,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Both of these new laws fulfill a core principle of this administration: state government ought to be standing up for working families. Lowering the cost of prescription drugs and expanding health care coverage is one important way to help lower costs and build a higher standard of living for all Illinoisans.”
House Bill 889
Gov. Pritzker signed House Bill 889 today, which requires insurance companies to cover office visits, testing and treatment for tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease. Taking effect immediately, the new law aims to support farmers throughout the state who have struggled to afford continuing treatments. From 2004 to 2016, tick-borne diseases have risen dramatically according to the Centers for Disease Control.
“The ability to receive treatment when you have previously been insufficiently treated is life changing,” said Rep. Daniel Swanson (R-Woodhull). “By mandating insurance coverage of long-term antibiotic treatment needed for patients, we are putting another piece of the puzzle into place for some patients and removing one additional hassle on their path to recovery.”
House Bill 3435
The governor also signed House Bill 3435 on Friday, which requires insurance companies to cover epinephrine injectors, most commonly prescribed as EpiPens, for children with severe allergies. The cost of an EpiPen has skyrocketed over the last decade, rising by more than 400% for the two-pen injector pack. Without insurance, these EpiPens can cost a family nearly $700 and typically have a shelf life of a little more than a year before the medicine needs to be restocked in stores. The law takes effect on January 1, 2020.
“With steady increases in food allergies and other serious allergic conditions, families are relying on EpiPens more than ever before,” said Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield). “We should be doing everything we can to expand access to affordable lifesaving drugs and medicines. No child with a serious allergy should be without an epinephrine injector because they cannot afford one.”
“I want to thank Governor Pritzker and members of the General Assembly for brining Illinois to the forefront on food allergy safety and prevention,” said Rep. Jonathan Carroll (D-Northbrook). “Along with improving the labeling of foods, we will now ensure that children in this state have access to lifesaving medication. I am proud of what we’ve accomplished and look forward to continuing this important work.”
4 Comments
|
Question of the day
Wednesday, Aug 14, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Hmm…
I’m told Speaker Madigan left shortly after delivering a brief speech, so he wasn’t around for the post-game show.
* The Question: If given an opportunity to ask Speaker Madigan a question, what would it be?
36 Comments
|
Cannabis goes upscale
Wednesday, Aug 14, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
Cresco Labs is renovating its 56 marijuana dispensaries around the country, including five in Illinois, and reopening them under a single brand name: Sunnyside.
The dispensaries will be welcoming and bright and will create room for customers to learn about the products, said Joe Caltabiano, president and co-founder of the Chicago-based cannabis company. There will be light wood tones and sunflower-colored accents.
The idea is to make the marijuana purchasing experience more inviting and warm — that’s where the name Sunnyside came from, Caltabiano said. Marijuana retail locations often have opened in industrial areas instead of more highly trafficked retail corridors, he said.
“We want this store to fit in the retail corridors that exist within the city of Chicago and the surrounding areas,” he said. “As you’re walking down the street and seeing the new retail stores pop up and the new retail concepts that come, you can kind of figure out where those stores typically go. We don’t want this to be different.”
* Artist renderings…
* Sun-Times…
“Sunnyside wants to feel more like a national wellness chain than a dispensary. Think of a Whole Foods or Sephora … but for cannabis. It’s the new generation of cannabis shopping,” the company said in a statement announcing the change.
“For far too long, I think cannabis has been relegated to the industrial corridors and the parts of cities where traditional commerce does not exist,” Joe Caltabiano, Cresco’s co-founder and president, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “So we’re excited to have cannabis be in the center of the commerce parts of the city where consumers go to buy coffee and where consumers go to buy their retail products.”
In addition to the makeup retailer Sephora, Caltabiano also cited the Apple Store as providing design inspiration, noting that both chains offer customers an inviting environment to learn about products. The first Sunnyside dispensary is slated to open in November in Philadelphia, and additional storefronts will follow in Illinois, Florida, Ohio, Arizona, Massachusetts and Michigan.
That’s a really good idea and I hope other companies follow suit. It’s past time to remove the stigma from this product. Get them off the back streets and out of the industrial corridors.
* More…
A public notice appeared recently in the window of John Barleycorn tavern in the Wrigleyville neighborhood — less than half a mile from MedMar Lakeview — noting that a Cresco-owned venture intended to “establish a medical cannabis dispensary” there. The move would require zoning approval.
Chicago-based Cresco has been looking to move the dispensary to a larger spot to accommodate growing patient count and demand for medical marijuana, said spokesman Jason Erkes.
* And…
A bill signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker this summer makes recreational marijuana use legal in Illinois starting Jan. 1, and sets the stage for existing medical dispensaries to expand their physical presence. The 55 medical dispensaries currently operating in in Illinois can apply to sell recreational marijuana at their stores. They also can open a second dispensary.
One opportunity being eyed on the Mag Mile, according to real estate sources, is the former Apple store at 679 N. Michigan Ave.
The space is controlled by Chicago-based Water Tower Realty, a small, local real estate investor, through a long-term ground lease. The multi-level, 30,000-square-foot space has been vacant since Apple moved its Mag Mile flagship south to a new building along the Chicago River in October 2017. […]
Many property owners are rolling out the welcome mat, viewing cannabis as a fast-growing retail concept, said Dan Molnar, a broker at Baum Realty Group who is representing marijuana company Cresco Labs in retail leases in the Chicago area and other cities.
32 Comments
|
Caption contest!
Wednesday, Aug 14, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Some folks asked for a photo with me yesterday, so I obliged…
40 Comments
|
McSweeney to focus next on school consolidation
Wednesday, Aug 14, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Earlier this week…
On Monday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill crafted and championed by Republican state Rep. David McSweeney of Barrington Hills that enables residents in McHenry County to dissolve a township by referendum, allowing another unit of government to absorb its duties. In a state with 102 counties and nearly 7,000 units of government, this is clearly a baby step, but it’s progress, and that alone is worth celebrating.
It’s also worth emulating. Hopefully, the movement started in McHenry County will spread and taxpayers throughout Illinois can begin wringing more efficiency out of their local governments.
* Next up…
Now that his legislation making it easier to dissolve townships in McHenry County has been signed into law, state Rep. David McSweeney says he’ll focus on consolidating other local governments, including school districts.
“It doesn’t make any sense for there to be so many small school districts (in Illinois),” McSweeney, a Barrington Hills Republican, said Monday.
McSweeney said he prefers unit school districts, which educate students from preschool or kindergarten through high school.
“I favor reduction for all units of government,” he said. “We have around 7,000 units of local government in Illinois, which is way too much.”
42 Comments
|
* Greg Baise op-ed in the SJ-R about the proposed graduated income tax…
If we learned anything from the last eight months, it’s that Governor Pritzker and Speaker Madigan’s alliance is impenetrable. The speaker has passed the governor’s increased spending and is promoting the Blank Check Amendment. In turn, the governor refuses to address multiple reports that some of those closest to the speaker are under federal scrutiny.
The fact is, despite this strong alliance and the speaker’s grip on the General Assembly, that doesn’t mean we have to accept higher taxes via the Blank Check Amendment.
Because at the end of the day it’s up to you, the voter, to make your voice heard in November 2020 on whether you trust the Madigan/Pritzker Partnership with more of your hard-earned tax dollars.
Be on the lookout for more from The Vote No on Blank Check Committee. How do you know if what you are reading is from the committee? Just look for our logo: If you see a Speaker Madigan silhouette hovering over a blank check, you’re in the right spot.
* The logo…
49 Comments
|
One step at a time
Wednesday, Aug 14, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune editorial…
We’ve long contended that locating a casino in Chicago makes sense. Legal gambling tends to generate lots of tax revenue, which the city and state need. But the way Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the General Assembly have gone about structuring the expansion of casino gambling into Chicago is all wrong. They’ve set up this project to fail and likely have to rewrite their legislation.
A state-hired consultant from Las Vegas released a feasibility study Tuesday — one required by the gambling expansion law — that makes a very good case … for casino operators to avoid coming to Chicago. Taxes from gambling revenue and fees to be gobbled up by the city and state are so onerous, the study concludes, that the casino would generate very little profit, if any.
There’s actually a scenario in which, under the current legislation, the combination of taxes, fees and operating expenses “could exceed casino revenue,” the study warns.
Think about that. Illinois lawmakers, salivating over the prospect of easy money from gambling taxes, write and pass a law to allow a casino in Chicago. But they’re so greedy that the entire enterprise becomes financially untenable before it starts. Lenders wouldn’t want to finance it, and gambling companies wouldn’t want to run it.
The Tribune isn’t alone. There was plenty of hand-wringing in Chicago about the consultant’s report.
And for good reason. The consultant submitted the only valid bid because the law mandated a too-quick process. The Illinois Gaming Board, which is already stretched to the limit with other casino expansions and sports betting implementation, has 90 days to evaluate the study and make recommendations to the General Assembly about what changes need to be made, but the fall veto session starts in just 75 days.
* Not to mention that one of the most influential Illinois legislators on this topic is not yet convinced any changes need to be made…
“Call me skeptical,” said state Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan, the chief sponsor of the bill authorizing the Chicago casino, as well as new gambling outlets in his home Lake County and other locales around the state. “They’ll have to do a lot more convincing to get me” to agree to cut the tax rates.
“All of us would like the largest profit margin we can,” added Link. Whoever builds the casino “is still going to make a lot of money.”
So now, we wait.
8 Comments
|
* Capitol News Illinois…
In a classic duel of Pritzker vs. Pritzker, the first lady won.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and First Lady M.K. Pritzker engaged in a bidding war at the Illinois State Fair on Tuesday, with the governor’s wife placing the winning bid of $75,000 for a grand champion steer named Lucius.
“I have to say, there’s not a piece of that steer that doesn’t entice me,” the governor quipped with reporters after the sale. He later explained that much of the meat would be donated to the Central Illinois Food Bank.
Lucius, a 1,300-pound steer, was the prize animal of 13-year-old Cole Caldwell, of Elmwood. He had told fair officials earlier that whatever money he made from the sale would go toward his college education and future livestock projects. Still, he said afterwards, he was pleasantly surprised at how much Lucius fetched.
“I was surprised,” he said after the sale. “It’s a little bit of bragging rights for me. My sister won three years ago, and hers sold for less than mine did.”
* Tribune..
“I thought I had this thing. I thought I had it cold,” Pritzker said of the annual livestock auction at the Illinois State Fair that benefits 4-H clubs and the Future Farmers of America.
Pritzker joked to reporters after the auction that the steer, which weighs in at around 1,340 pounds, could live on the front lawn of the Governor’s Mansion. Either that or “we’re going to get cuts of meat like you wouldn’t believe.” […]
[Cole Caldwell] admitted he’ll miss Lucius.
“I think I got just a little bit too attached, but that’s just how it goes,” he said. “I love him very much.”
I also became too attached to a steer many years ago when I was in 4-H. They’re almost like pets because you spend so much time feeding them, cleaning up after them, grooming them, training them to be led and to stand just right during the shows. I cried for days one year because I knew I had to sell my steer for slaughter.
* SJ-R…
The 13-year-old eighth-grader gets half of the $75,000, with 10 percent going to the 4H and FFA, and 15 percent going to the reserve grand champion steer and 25 percent going to all the other breed champions.
The win, said Cole, came through “a lot of hard work and spending a lot of time with my steer.” […]
Cole Caldwell said at first he didn’t realize the first lady and Governor were bidding against each other.
“That was very, very cool,” he said.
Some video is here.
* Related…
* Illinois State Fair sets record for grandstand revenue: Just five days into festivities, the Illinois State Fair has set a record for grandstand revenue.
13 Comments
|
Dems gear up for Governor’s Day
Wednesday, Aug 14, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Rick Pearson…
Democrats readied to celebrate their first Governor’s Day at the Illinois State Fair in five years on Wednesday, rallying with hopes to build off victories by Gov. J.B. Pritzker and legislative candidates last fall that made Illinois a one-party state.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is scheduled to kick the day off as keynote speaker at the annual Democratic County Chairs’ Association brunch, celebrating a state that flipped two Republican congressional seats in the mid-term elections. Democrats now hold a 13-5 advantage in the state’s congressional delegation.
Though Pelosi is to appear before a friendly crowd of more than 2,000 at a hotel ballroom, the politically polarizing California Democrat will be in the heart of ruby-red rural Downstate Illinois, which voted decisively for President Donald Trump in 2016.
But Springfield is also the hometown of Betsy Dirksen Londrigan, a Democrat who could flip the central and southwestern Illinois congressional seat held by Republican Rodney Davis of Taylorville. Davis defeated Londrigan by 2,058 votes in 2018.
Londrigan, whose candidacy is strongly backed by House Democrats, was not listed on the speaking program for the brunch, perhaps because of fears an appearance with Pelosi could be used against her by Davis and Republicans in the 13th Congressional District.
You can watch the event live by clicking here.
* ILGOP…
Today the Illinois Democrats celebrate and talk about the “BIG” things they have accomplished - BIG spending, BIG tax hikes and BIG government. However, it’s likely we won’t hear them answering questions about their rampant corruption and unpopular policies.
“Illinois Democrats will try every which way to avoid answering questions Illinoisans deserve answers to. Their silence on the corruption ravaging their party further erodes what trust the public has left in state government. Will any Democrat address their colleagues corrupt activities, or will they choose to hide and not stand up for taxpayers?” -Joe Hackler, ILGOP Spokesman
Now that Governor’s Day is bringing all Democratic leaders together in one place at one time, the media and interested citizens can hopefully get some answers to those pressing questions. The following are a few questions that voters deserve to hear answered:
Should Senator Tom Cullerton step down after being indicted on 41 counts of embezzlement, conspiracy, and making false statements?
Do any Democrats agree with Senate President John Cullerton that Sen. Tom Cullerton is a valuable member of the caucus and deserved a new chairmanship?
Did Speaker Madigan know about the payments from his allies and friends going to Kevin Quinn?
Did Speaker Madigan know the person he hired to investigate incidents like Kevin Quinn’s harassment was the sister of two men sending to checks to Quinn after he was dismissed?
Do any Democrats agree with leading presidential candidates that all private healthcare insurance should be abolished?
Do any Democrats agree with leading presidential candidates that illegal border crossing should be decriminalized?
Do any Democrats agree with leading presidential candidates that illegal immigrants should be given free healthcare?
* Center Square…
Last week Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, moved Sen. Tom Cullerton from leading the Senate Labor Committee to heading the Senate Veteran Affairs Committee, a move that allowed the Senator to keep a stipend for being a committee leader.
Pritzker said shifting Cullerton’s committee chairmanship made sense.
“As you know I think he stepped aside or was asked to step aside from the chairmanship of the Labor Committee, which is the area the allegations were made in, and I think that is an appropriate first step,” Pritzker said. […]
State Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora, said if she had the ability, Cullerton wouldn’t even have that.
“I probably would have stripped the committee chairmanship,” Holmes said. “Left him on his committees, obviously left him voting until anything commenced from that point.”
* Politico…
Gov. J.B. Pritzker held court at the governor’s mansion. House Speaker Mike Madigan hosted dinner at Saputo’s. And Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot got the applause.
“She was well-received,” Madigan told Playbook about Lightfoot’s visit to his dinner gathering for friends and lawmakers. Maybe an understatement as the crowded backroom broke out in applause for the mayor.
That’s the way Tuesday evening went in Springfield. Cheers, celebratory toasts and lots of party-hopping as Democrats and Republicans converged on the state capitol for the annual Governor’s Day (today) and Republican Day (Thursday) events tied to the state fair.
Given Democrats control both chambers of the Legislature and the governor’s office, it’s no surprise Dems dominated the party scene, too.
The tradition is the governor’s party holds its receptions the evening before Governor’s Day at the Illinois State Fair. The other party holds its receptions the evening before its state fair day. So, the Republicans will be partying tonight.
…Adding… NRCC…
Hey there –
The Chicago Corruption machine will welcome the Washington Corruption machine at the Democratic County Chairs’ Association brunch today.
Notable socialist crooks include Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, socialist loser* Betsy Dirksen Londrigan (whose donors are still under federal investigation), fake nurse Lauren Underwood, the politically inept Cheri “Beltway” Bustos and House “Speaker” Nancy Pelosi.
What a crew.
These corrupt socialists insiders will clink champagne flutes as they discuss their plans to wipe out private insurance, provide on-demand late term abortion and tax Illinoisans into oblivion to pay for a socialist takeover the economy.
Cheers!
45 Comments
|
* Politico…
DOROTHY BROWN BOWS OUT. The longtime clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County will not seek re-election, she told Playbook. “I’ve decided to look at the next chapter. It’s time to do something new, and go to an even higher level.”
Brown says that includes working as a community activist and applying her “financial, technology and legal skills in the for-profit arena.”
After weeks of speculation about whether she was running, Brown said that stepping down from public office at the end of 2020 dovetails with logging 20 years with the county. That’s when she’ll be able to draw a full pension.
Brown, who ran for mayor of Chicago earlier this year before getting knocked off in a petition challenge, said she wasn’t swayed by the crowd of candidates angling to unseat her, or her meager campaign war chest compared to those seeking to take her on. Brown also said the FBI probe into pay-to-play allegations in her office wouldn’t hurt her chances of winning, either (No charges have ever been filed).
“I felt that I would have definitely won re-election,” she said. “Nothing weighed me down. I have just as much confidence as I ever had.”
Discuss.
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
Progressive reformer and Democratic candidate for Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court, Jacob Meister has issued the following statement in response to Dorthy Brown’s announcement that she will not be seeking re-election for Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court:
“Four years ago I announced my candidacy to run against Dorothy Brown because the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office is a patronage den and bureaucratic disaster of lost paperwork and dinosaur age technology. It is tragic that the second largest court system in the country still relies on carbon paper and hastily handwritten documentation on a daily basis. Lost files and handwritten paperwork result in an unacceptable rate of errors, which often translates to people remaining in jail when they should be released, wrongful evictions and foreclosures. The office needs to be transformed, both operationally and ethically and I offer a clear vision to achieve the needed reform.
“The Democratic Party needs to seize this opportunity to offer the voters a candidate that is the most qualified to reform the office and is absolutely free from ethical questions and pay-to-play politics. Unfortunately, instead of heeding the clear message sent by voters who elected reformers Fritz Kaegi and Lori Lightfoot, many of the leaders of the Cook County Democratic Party are headed towards slating yet another ethically bankrupt candidate to head the Clerk’s office.”
25 Comments
|
|
Comments Off
|
|
Support CapitolFax.com
Visit our advertisers...
...............
...............
...............
...............
...............
|
   
|
Hosted by MCS
SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax
Advertise Here
Mobile Version
Contact Rich Miller
|
