Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

Welcome to the world, Madison Olivia Clarke, daughter of Jerry and Lanae Clark!!!

Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

Unionized journalists and management at the Chicago Sun-Times narrowly averted a strike this afternoon after reaching a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract.

Roughly 185 reporters, copy editors and other newsroom personnel affiliated with the Chicago Newspaper Guild had threatened to walk out at noon today if a new deal could not be hammered out.

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Busted

Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

They’ve been doing this for years, so it was only a matter of time before somebody questioned the ethics of the trip.

Struggling to restore confidence in a state government battered by scandal, Illinois lawmakers late last year passed sweeping ethics reforms that included new restrictions on gifts from those who could influence them.

But two weeks ago, a large group of legislators passed through a gaping loophole in that law on their way to a posh Puerto Rican resort in a trip paid for by companies and lobbyists seeking favors from the state, a Tribune investigation has found.

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Stop, thief!

Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

Another sign-theft story, this one from the Northern Star.

As the 2004 presidential election heats up in its final month, wrecked and strewn political signs have become a common sight in DeKalb.

â€œItâ€™s an annoyance, itâ€™s rude and itâ€™s undemocratic,â€ said professor emeritus of sociology Herb Rubin, whose signs have been stolen for the second election in a row.

Rubin said that this election season, his signs for presidential candidate John Kerry, Illinois senate candidate Barack Obama and state representative candidate Bob Brown were stolen from his property.

â€œItâ€™s happened to me in the past. [Signs] were all taken and tossed into peopleâ€™s lawns,â€ he said.

The experience is not new for Julia Fauci, Democrat DeKalb County Board member.

Fauci said she had 20 of her campaign signs taken from supportersâ€™ yards in one night while running for DeKalb County Board two years ago…

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Will County update

Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

Check out this update on Sen. Larry Walsh’s race for Will County executive.

While Will County Executive Joe Mikan touted his record in office, Sen. Larry Walsh turned up the heat Monday night during the candidates’ forum at the University of St. Francis.

Although both men wore dark suits, white shirts and red ties and hit the same notes on many issues in the race for county executive, they had different styles. Walsh, the Democrat, was fiery. Republican Mikan was calm and in control.

In his opening remarks, Walsh vowed to reach out to Will County residents who now feel ignored, implying that many of them lived in the eastern part of the county near the airport now proposed for Peotone. And he promised an immediate change if elected.

Also, here’s an update on the increasingly bitter Will county state’s attorney race.

Monday’s debate between the two candidates for state’s attorney was a raucous affair at the University of St. Francis.

Topics ranged from the serious â€” the federal probe of the Hired Truck Scandal in Chicago â€” to the silly: challenger Jim Glasgow calling incumbent Jeff Tomczak’s supporters the “chicken gallery.”

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Pangle scores again

Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

If newspaper endorsements won elections, Kay Pangle would be walking away with this one. (From the Daily Southtown):

Long-time state Rep. Phil Novak of Bradley resigned last year and was replaced by Lisa Dugan of Kankakee. She is the Democratic nominee for the seat. We endorse the Republican, Kay Pangle, who is the elected Regional Superintendent of Schools for Kankakee and Iroquois counties. We prefer Pangle because of her well-informed and realistic position on school funding reform. Pangle is a life-long educator and school administrator who understands the inequities and inadequacies of the state’s school funding system and supports a thoughtful solution, House Bill 750, which would increase state support for schools and reduce local property taxes. The Legislature needs more voices like Pangle’s.

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Not political?

Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

Remember when the secretary of state’s office told me that an announcement would be made at Rep. Ralph Capparelli’s drivers services seminar that it was NOT to be considered political in any way?

As you will recall, the SoS used tax money to pay for several thousand fliers announcing the event. Many of those fliers were sent into the 20th District, which Cap doesn’t now represent but hopes to soon.

Well, the Repubs snapped a few pics outside the White Eagle on Tuesday morning. Sure looks like a campaign event to me:

Notice the Secretary of State driver services van not far from the Cap sign.

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Althoff race

Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

We’ve been keeping half an eye on this campaign, but it’s completely on the radar now. More in tomorrow’s Capitol Fax. Until then, check out this Daily Herald story.

With a 40-fold increase in fund raising, the Fox Valley race for the 32nd District state Senate seat could jack spending from 39 cents a vote two years ago to nearly $14 a vote this year.

A traditionally Republican stronghold now has become one of Illinois’ hottest contests - with a Democratic newcomer leading the combined campaign fund-raising charge very near the $1 million mark, state reports show.

Two years ago, the seat wasn’t so costly. Republican incumbent Dick Klemm spent less than $20,000 to earn 41,233 votes. His Democratic challenger, Ray Flavin, spent less than the required $3,000 to file a campaign contribution report in collecting his 17,694 votes.

Klemm resigned in February 2003 after he was diagnosed with cancer. Pamela Althoff of McHenry took over.

As of Tuesday, Althoff had netted about $289,000 for her campaign.

Democratic challenger Patrick Ouimet has collected about $503,000. The Woodstock attorney notched $182,000 last week just from the Illinois Senate Democratic Fund.

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Shafted

Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

It’s unreal how these schools were screwed. The Bloomington Pantagraph profiles one of them.

El Paso-Gridley Superintendent Jim Miller guided about 150 letters from El Paso-Gridley parents out of the district office toward the hands of legislators Tuesday.

The letters were a combination of those hand-written and those signed by community members asking the state to pay the merger incentives originally promised to the newly formed district.

Like Prairie Central and six other newly merged districts, El-Paso-Gridley first was told it would get 40 percent of the money originally promised and then learned it would be zero.

Only districts that consolidated before March will receive the incentives.

Legislators who support full funding of the merger incentives are planning to introduce a bill during the General Assembly’s November veto session asking that the money be paid.

“The general word is we have a lot of support. It’s whether that will translate into ‘yes’ votes and if there is the money to fund it,” Miller said.

Read the whole piece.

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Hassert up against a Libertarian

Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

I don’t usually do stories about these marginal races, but local papers always run them late in the game. Here’s the Daily Southtown’s take on Rep. Brent Hassert’s race against a Libertarian.

For the second time, state Rep. Brent Hassert (R-Romeoville) is facing a Libertarian in his run for re-election. [Snip]

Hassert’s opponent, Bolingbrook resident Austin Hough, has been active in the state Libertarian party and serves on the Fountaindale Public Library Board. Hough said he was asked to run by the party and he felt obligated to do so.

“I’m a big believer in privatization,” Hough said. “I believe the reason we founded this country (an escape from England’s taxation system) — we’re getting away from all that.”

Hough sees publicly funded fountains, golf courses and other projects that go beyond the basics of what a government should do, and says, “It’s that kind of stuff that makes people like me decide to run.”

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Bicycling to victory

Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

Despite the eye-catching lede, this isn’t a terrible story for Rep. Ed Sullivan, although I bet the thing is run by papers everywhere.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) A state representative who was barred from driving because of a drunken driving conviction has hit the campaign trail on a bicycle.

State Rep. Edwin Sullivan Jr. has been pedaling door-to-door in his northern Illinois district with a helmet and a backpack stuffed with fliers.

“It’s really convenient in rural areas where the houses are more spread out,'’ said the 35-year-old Republican. “They’re a lot easier to get to on a bike compared to if I had to walk up and down the driveways.'’

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Forby Speaks

Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

If you’re in the mood for a chuckle, listen to our favorite inarticulate state Senator, Gary Forby, speak about a few issues of interest. Despite what the Tribune editorial board would have you believe, you can understand him perfectly, but his reading skills do leave a little to be desired.

Why the Senate Democrats would do this to their own guy is beyond me.

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