* Four-dozen contested primaries, plus session and two very large birthday party charity events means I’m done for a while. Nobody’s gonna be around anyway. I’ll be back Monday, April 9th.
I don’t even usually celebrate my birthday, let alone have parties, so this was a weird week for me. But it was all for charity, so I guess that’s OK. A million thanks to everyone who participated, contributed and had fun with me this week. I promise you this, I’ll never do it again. It was just too much “me” all the time. Not my thing. But we will raise money for charity again somehow.
Friday, Mar 30, 2012 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
As opponents of SB 678 and the Taylorville Energy Center unleash their latest onslaught on the truth, Ronald Reagan’s famous line seems particularly apt.
There they go again.
The only thing that’s happening faster than the Exelon/ComEd/STOP penchant for saying anything to defeat the bill regardless of accuracy is the rapid-fire closing of coal-fired plants. And their seemingly endless collection of false claims hasn’t gone unnoticed by objective observers.
“This episode was a lesson for us. It said ComEd would do anything necessary to protect its bottom line and keep competition away, no matter how much hyperbole and alarmism was necessary.”
- Springfield Journal-Register Editorial – September 13, 2011
As the Chicago Tribune recently reported, ComEd parent Exelon spent $40,000 on a lopsided report full of “sky-is-falling” claims. Not only did this Exelon-funded “study” grossly exaggerate the unfavorable effect of natural gas price changes, but it ignored big improvements such as falling interest rates and increasing coal plant retirements that more than offset lower natural gas prices.
Why is Exelon/ComEd/STOP engaged in such a massive misinformation campaign and unleashing thousands of robocalls throughout the state? Here’s why:
“If the plant is built, Exelon could lose more than $107 million each year in fees it receives from consumers as part of the auction-based system that reserves power in advance from generators to ensure lights stay on,’ according to Mark Pruitt, the immediate past director of the Illinois Power Agency.”
- Chicago Tribune, March 16, 2012
So next time Exelon/ComEd/STOP try to scare you about SB 678 and the Taylorville project, remember: there they go again.
Friday, Mar 30, 2012 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
ComEd is investing $2.6 billion over the next ten years to strengthen and digitize the electric grid. Our work – a direct result of the historic Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act passed last October – is already underway. In the past few months alone, ComEd has:
Replaced more than 22,000 feet of mainline cable. Replaced or injected more than 300,000 feet of underground residential distribution cable (URD). By replacing cable where necessary or injecting cable to fill in voids in insulation, ComEd will reduce the number of service interruptions.
Reinforced and replaced utility poles in over 200 locations: ComEd is inspecting, treating and, where necessary, replacing or reinforcing wood poles. Properly maintaining utility poles will help ComEd keep customers’ power on during severe weather.
Installed more than 110 distribution automation devices: These devices will automatically detect problems on the electrical grid and reroute power, making service more dependable.
These and other improvements made in recent months are just the beginning of ComEd’s commitment to delivering power you can depend on. We will continue to update you on our progress in the weeks and months ahead.
* I have a bunch of things to do today to get ready for Saturday’s big event, so blogging will be light. Sorry about that, but here’s a roundup to chew on for a while…
* Tuition break program survives attempt to put limits on it: The Illinois House killed legislation Thursday that would have put limits on a tuition break program for employees of the state’s public universities. The proposal mustered just 25 “yes” votes of the 60 needed for passage. It would have limited the current 50 percent tuition cut to families with household incomes of $50,000 or less.
* Juvenile Justice Dept. postponing work on detention center after lawmakers raise concerns: State officials postponed remodeling work on a juvenile detention center in northeast Illinois on Thursday after some lawmakers voiced concerns that the project was violating a law that dictates how state facilities must be closed. The Department of Juvenile Justice believes it wouldn’t be illegal to begin the $4 million upgrade of the Illinois Youth Center at St. Charles, even though it includes readying the facility for higher-risk offenders who are scheduled to be transferred from a detention facility in Joliet that’s slated to close. The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability said the work appears to violate an Illinois statute that bars officials from taking any “action” to close a facility until 50 days after the governor notifies the General Assembly of the plan. That would be May 5 in this case.
* Senate OKs plan to require more information in state leases: Legislation aimed at disclosing more information about the owners of state-leased buildings and the third-party contractors managing them passed the Illinois Senate unanimously on Thursday. The bill creating the new rules, sponsored by Sen. Susan Garrett, D-Lake Forest, would not apply to existing contracts, which means it would not apply to the management company owned by convicted Springfield businessman William Cellini
* As always with big events, there are some cancellations. We’ve had a few for Saturday’s roast of yours truly, which has freed up three tickets. There’s been a mad scramble for last-minute tix and I’ve been doing what I can to help people. So, these three tix may take off some of the pressure.
The roast will be held at Maggiano’s in Chicago. Senate President John Cullerton is the emcee. House Speaker Michael Madigan, Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno, Sen. Donne Trotter, Rep. Skip Saviano, Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, Paul Green, Carol Marin and my brother Doug are all on the program, as is Attorney General Lisa Madigan (even though she won’t tell me what she’s doing). Live music, cash bar.
Cocktails start at 6 o’clock and dinner will be served at 7 sharp. It’s black tie optional, so up your game. Valet parking is available. Tickets are $200 each. Proceeds benefit Lutheran Social Services of Illinois.
* So, starting right now, those three tickets are up for grabs. E-mail Joy Medrano at Joy.Medrano@lssi.org for your chance to attend. These are the hottest tickets in town, so don’t delay. First come, first served. You’ll probably be required to pay today via PayPal just to make sure you’re actually coming, but that’s up to LSSI.
* There’s no guarantee that if you order more than one ticket you’ll be able to sit with the other person on your list, so keep that in mind. And, please, only send an e-mail if you are absolutely, definitely going. This is the first time I’ve offered tickets to the general public, so don’t disappoint me, please. Thanks.
The Cancer Treatment Centers of America would be allowed to weigh whether someone is a smoker when they make hiring decisions under legislation approved in the Illinois Senate Wednesday.
The proposal, from state Sen. Dan Duffy, lets for-profit companies that only treat cancer patients not hire someone because they smoke or use other tobacco products.
“That has an impact on people, when they go in (for treatment) and smell that smoke,” the Lake Barrington Republican said.
Only Cancer Treatment Centers of America would be affected by the rule. Hospitals and other employers still could not discriminate against smokers when making hiring decisions because their sole business pursuit isn’t treating cancer. […]
The only opponent was state Sen. Shane Cultra, a Republican from downstate Onarga, who said discrimination shouldn’t be allowed.
* The Question: Should state law be changed to allow Cancer Treatment Centers of America to refuse to hire tobacco users? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments.
* As I told subscribers earlier today, this proposal also includes another $500 million from federal Medicaid matches, leading to a proposed late overdue state bill reduction of $1.3 billion…
Illinois House members plan to use $800 million of next year’s tax receipts to pay down old bills, something that will force even deeper cuts to state programs. The House Revenue Committee approved resolutions dividing up estimated state revenues among various state programs, such as education, human services and public safety. […]
Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, said taking money off the top to pay down bills will result in cuts to state programs that will have to be negotiated by the various House appropriations committees.
He estimated the appropriations committees would have to cut various state budgets by 5.5 percent.
Those reductions are on top of the governor’s proposed cuts. Some agencies are already slated for 9 percent cuts. And it does include the governor’s proposed $2.7 billion in Medicaid cuts, although it mandates that the budget will have to be cut further if Gov. Pat Quinn’s target isn’t reached. The resolution is here.
* And while that spending cap will be quite painful, the General Assembly is also looking at some smaller items. Here’s a quick roundup…
* Illinois House votes to reduce DNR mandates: The Illinois House signed off Wednesday on a Department of Natural Resource’s initiative to shed mandates it cannot or does not fulfill. The chamber voted 114-0 on House Bill 404 in an effort to save millions. For instance, if the department eliminates meeting requirements for the Illinois Geographic Information Council and changes how it reports, Mautino said DNR will save about $200,000 a year.
* Bill would eliminate inactive commissions: State government boards and commissions that no longer meet — or have never met — are a step closer to abolition after an Illinois House vote Wednesday. House Bill 3816, which was sent to the Senate on a 106-8 vote, would dissolve any board or commission if it has not met once in the last two years.
* Urban hospitals propose Illinois Medicaid plan: But the state’s top Medicaid official disputed the group’s claims. Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services Director Julie Hamos said the bulk of unclaimed federal matching money is for a portion of the All Kids health insurance program for children in higher income families. That’s a program the legislature may want to target for cuts, she said. “I wish we had found $100 million in new money, but that’s not it,” Hamos said.
* Proposal requires SURS reimbursement when retirees return to work: Under certain circumstances, House Bill 4996 would require state colleges and universities to pick up the tab for retirees’ pension payments if they go back to work. The bill passed the House on a 112-0 vote and now heads to the Illinois Senate.
The Illinois House voted unanimously Wednesday to criminalize sexual conduct with a corpse.
House Bill 5122 also would make it a felony to move a dead body without authorization.
The bill’s chief sponsor, Rep. Daniel Beiser, D-Alton, said he had received complaints from prosecutors and county coroners in Madison County that some people have moved the bodies of people who had overdosed on drugs. That contaminates a crime scene, Beiser said.
Beiser said the section criminalizing sexual conduct with a corpse was added in response to a case in Madison County from the 1990s. Today, such a person can be charged only with criminal damage to property.
State laws don’t address the issue of sex with a corpse, and prosecutors have resorted to charging suspects with criminal damage to property.
“When you think of that, you think of someone going … breaking a mailbox or something similar,” Beiser said. “We obviously understand that isn’t adequate, that anybody who abuses or mishandles a deceased just demeans the meaning of that person’s life.”
If the measure becomes law, sex with a corpse would result in a Class 2 felony, with punishments ranging from probation to seven years in prison. Anyone caught moving a corpse would face a Class 4 felony, with penalties ranging from probation to three years in jail.
* Rod Blagojevich’s former chief of staff John Harris was sentenced to just ten days in prison yesterday. Judge James Zagel seemed to almost pity him at times…
The federal judge who handed Rod Blagojevich a 14-year prison term cited the corrupt former governor’s reputation for erratic behavior Wednesday in sentencing a former top Blagojevich aide to only 10 days behind bars.
Former chief of staff John Harris’ role in the bartering over President Obama’s old Senate seat was “so serious and so crucial” that it warranted some prison time, said U.S. District Court Judge James Zagel. But Zagel also noted that Harris’s boss exhibited “elements on some level of mental instability.”
“It was difficult for me to understand, on many occasions, what the governor was doing,” Zagel told Harris. […]
Before announcing the sentence, the judge said he could not honestly claim he would have reacted to a superior’s directives differently than Harris responded to Blagojevich — with one exception.
“I would have left sooner, much sooner,” said Zagel, who was a state official in the 1970s and 1980s and credited Harris with disobeying some of Blagojevich’s orders.
The judge also cited what he described as an “unusual set of character reference letters” for Harris, many from prominent figures in city and state political circles. Zagel said he knew at least 10 of the letter writers personally.
Harris’ cooperation included testifying for 10 days at two Blagojevich trials. A subdued, matter-of-fact Harris told jurors he and Blagojevich talked about parlaying the power to name someone to Obama’s seat for campaign cash or a lucrative job for Blagojevich.
Much of Harris’ testimony involved him interpreting FBI wiretaps played in court, including a Nov. 3, 2008, recording where an almost giddy-sounding Blagojevich talks about the prospect of benefiting by appointing Obama friend Valerie Jarrett to the Senate seat.
“Now, we should get something for that, couldn’t I?” Blagojevich asks Harris.
During her 15-minute statement at the hearing, prosecutor Carrie Hamilton didn’t have a single critical word for Harris.
She told Zagel Harris was “the most important” witness at Blagojevich’s corruption trials. And unlike Blagojevich, who fought the more numerous charges against him until he recently reported to prison, Hamilton said Harris had “owned up” to his misdeeds within days of his Dec. 9, 2008, arrest.
She also highlighted what she said was Blagojevich’s extreme inconsideration for his staff. She described how on one call captured on FBI wiretaps, Harris tells Blagojevich he was hanging Christmas tree lights with his kids and wanted to get back to it.
“Blagojevich did not care what else was going on” and kept Harris on the phone for more than an hour, Hamilton said.
* Oh, it was a late night at Boones, campers. I’m running real slow and having difficulty finishing the Fax.
Thanks to everyone who came out for my 50th birthday party. We raised a whole lot of money for Lutheran Social Services of Illinois. We also auctioned off five bottles of barbeque sauce, raising an amazing $4,250 for the Harrisburg tornado disaster relief fund.
The 50/50 raffle ticket winning number is 827066. The total amount is over $700, but I’m sure whoever won will donate their half back to LSSI, right?
* AARP IL had a little fun at my expense by presenting me with a huge new membership card. Sorry for the pic quality…
Caption?
*** UPDATE 1 *** You know, if I was more cynical and if it wasn’t my party, I might think the 50/50 drawing was rigged. AARP IL has the winning raffle ticket…
…Adding… And, of course, the other half will be donated back. Thanks!
*** UPDATE 2 *** We raised just shy of $6,000 for LSSI last night and just over $4,000 for the tornado victims. Ten grand for charity ain’t a bad night. Saturday will be a whole lot bigger, though.
* The Tribune editorial board had some news to report in an editorial demanding, again, that the video gaming law be repealed…
•When sponsors jammed this bill through the Legislature, many lawmakers didn’t realize that the state’s biggest city previously had outlawed video gambling. Chicago aldermen wise to the public’s antipathy toward video gambling haven’t been foolish enough to risk trying to overturn that ban.
•The 2009 law allowed communities to opt out of video gambling, further shrinking the portion of Illinois where this menace could thrive. Until recently, the Illinois Gaming Board’s unofficial list included about 80 opt-out communities. But we’ve just learned that a new state survey turned up nearly double that number: 151 municipalities — plus six counties (Cook, DuPage, Lake, McHenry, Mercer and Wayne) that have banned video gambling in all of their unincorporated areas.
•And on Tuesday we learned of what could be a third geographic exclusion to video gambling: Lawyers for gambling companies have told the Gaming Board that perhaps half of the communities in Illinois — and an unknown number of counties — have statutes that forbid all legalized gambling. Under the video gambling law, those communities, too, are ineligible for terminals, unless their city councils or county boards decide to reverse those anti-gambling statutes. Imagine the public uproar in many of those locales if officials now try to legalize gambling. (The state lottery law specifically forbade any impact on lottery sales in these no-gambling locales, but the video gambling act didn’t include a similar provision.)
Nobody yet knows how much of Illinois is off-limits to video gambling. But it’s a lot. We also learned Tuesday that the Gaming Board is investigating whether every community and county in Illinois has either an opt-out statute or an anti-gambling statute. The board will then build three lists: communities and counties where bans make gambling illegal, communities and counties that have opted out of video gambling since 2009, and the leftover communities and counties where terminals could be licensed. Much of that territory may be in less populated regions south of Interstate 80 — and arguably unlikely to produce big revenues for the state.
My own opinion, which I’ve expressed several times, is that legalizing video gambling takes money out of the pockets of mobsters, who control a big chunk of the video poker business here.
* The Question: Do you agree with the Tribune that the video gaming law ought to be scrapped? Explain, please. Thanks.
* OK, it’s been kind of a day. Prepping for my birthday party at Boone’s today (doors open at 5), lunch meeting with a very cool person and other stuff. My mind isn’t really working properly now, and I somehow forgot to post the ScribbleLive thingy. Thanks to Chris Wetterich for reminding me via Twitter. Oops.
* Anyway, BlackBerry users click here and everyone else can just hang back and watch all of today’s events unfold…
* I told subscribers about this earlier in the week…
Even if indicted state Rep. Derrick Smith is expelled from the Illinois House, nothing stops voters from putting the Chicago Democrat back in the Legislature in the November general election.
“There’s nothing in the election code prohibiting someone expelled from seeking re-election,” said Steve Sandvoss, general counsel for the Illinois State Board of Elections. […]
But the Illinois Constitution, which outlines how a legislator can be expelled, is silent on expulsion concerning re-election eligibility, said Kent Redfield, political science professor at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
“All the Legislature can do is affect his current status,” Redfield said.
However, Redfield noted that if Smith is expelled, but not convicted by the federal government on the bribery charge before the election, the House could vote to not seat Smith after a general election win. Like an expulsion, two-thirds of the House must vote to prevent Smith from being sworn into the General Assembly.
If Smith is found guilty of the felony in federal court, he is ineligible to serve in the Legislature until after completing his punishment.
* Meanwhile, the Legislative Research Unit has found three other cases of House members facing punishment by their own chamber…
- Rep. Frank Comerford, D-Chicago, wasn’t accused of corrupt activities. What got him in hot water was claiming that other lawmakers were corrupt.
After alleging “wholesale corruption” at the Statehouse in 1905, Comerford couldn’t back his claims and was expelled from the House because he “besmirched the good name and reputation of this General Assembly.” He was then elected to fill the vacancy created by his expulsion and returned to the House less than two months after leaving.
- In 1935, Republican Reps. Richard J. Lyons and Lottie Holman O’Neill, from Lake County and DuPage County, filed a resolution criticizing President Franklin Roosevelt and Gov. Henry Horner, both Democrats. The next day, a fellow legislator introduced a resolution saying Lyons and O’Neill were unworthy of membership in the House. Lyons publicly apologized, the critical resolution was erased from the records and no further action was taken on the resolution saying the two weren’t fit for the House.
- House Majority Leader Gerald Shea, a Cook County Democrat, was accused in 1976 of violating ethics laws by serving as an attorney for the Illinois State Medical Society and simultaneously introducing malpractice legislation that could affect the society. Shea was exonerated 153-7.
* That WSIL TV story I linked to earlier this morning was in error. The governor’s office did not apply for the “public” FEMA aid for the Harrisburg area because the damage clearly did not meet FEMA’s minimum requirements. The original story I linked to today has since disappeared from the station’s website.
I was in my car when the governor’s office called, so I just deleted the post and figured I’d do something after a meeting I’d already set up. That explains the delay in this explanation.
* I’ve mostly ignored the bizarre University of Illinois e-mail “scandal” because, well, I was once involved in university politics and I came to realize it was something to stay away from. I used to be student president at what was then known as Sangamon State University. During my one term, the university president was accused of sexually harrassing a student I’d helped elect to the Board of Regents. Things got mighty ugly after that, as you might imagine. The situation was used to avenge all sorts of festering grievances by faculty and staff.
By comparison, this e-mail thing at the U of I, which eventually led to the resignation of University of Illinois President Michael Hogan, seemed sorta tame and lame. But, whatever. I had too much stuff to cover to deal with that anyway.
* This, however, looks a lot more up my alley. We’ve got a real bare-knuckles, high-stakes fight happening in southern Illinois between a university president and a governor. SIU President Glenn Poshard has been catching grief from two SIU board members who are closely allied with Gov. Pat Quinn, so he fired back yesterday…
Poshard held a news conference Tuesday afternoon on the SIUC campus to respond to criticism by board members Don Lowery and Roger Herrin that his leadership is not effective and that he should step down as SIU President. Poshard says the intimidation goes beyond Lowery and Herrin and can be traced all the way to Governor Pat Quinn’s office. […]
Poshard says there is a sharp division within the board because of Lowery and Herrin’s tactics of bullying, circumventing the board as a whole, trying to influence hiring decisions, and meddling in last year’s faculty union negotiations.
* Poshard is no pushover. And last week he apparently engineered the ouster of Herrin as board chairman and replaced him with an ally, famed trial lawyer John Simmons. But a very intense, behind the scenes battle ensued when Gov. Pat Quinn’s people fought back…
According to Poshard, staff members for Quinn contacted board members and asked if they intended to vote for Roger Herrin for another term as chairman or to not show up if they did not support Herrin.
Poshard said he was also told that if Herrin was not given another term, the trustees and Poshard all could be replaced.
Trustee Marquita Wiley confirmed she received a call from a representative from Quinn’s office and was asked if she intended to support Herrin. After indicating she would support Simmons, Wiley said she was asked if she could refrain from attending.
Wiley said she told Quinn’s representative she would not be absent, as it is here duty as a trustee to attend each meeting.
Wiley said she was surprised and even asked if her resignation would be sought. The governor’s caller in turn asked her that if she was asked to resign, would she?
Lowery said Tuesday that SIU is no better off today than it was when the former congressman became president. “It’s time for change in the president’s office,” he said.
Glenn Poshard is southern Illinois to a whole lot of people. He’ll be fired at Quinn’s peril.
* Sen. Terry Link has an interesting little bill. State law currently allows churches and private schools which host election day polling places to ban all political signs from their properties. Here’s the summary…
Provides that nothing shall prohibit the placement of temporary signs within a private dwelling in a public or private building where a polling place is located. Provides that nothing shall prohibit the placement of temporary signs on the doors or windows of a private dwelling in a public or private building so long as that private dwelling is located on a different floor than the polling room or that private dwelling is located a distance of at least 100 horizontal feet from each entrance to the polling room if the private dwelling and polling room are located on the same floor. Denies home rule powers.
The bill passed the Senate Executive Committee 8-4 yesterday. From the SJ-R…
Sen. Terry Link, D-Vernon Hills, the chief sponsor of Senate Bill 3669, said he has received complaints about how private settings, like churches and private schools, that host polling places can ban signs on their property, but public schools and park districts can’t.
“I’m not saying that they have to have signs 365 days a year,” Link said. “I’m saying that one day, like every other polling place, allows them 100 feet away from the door.”
Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, took issue with Link’s plan.
“You’re comfortable with state government instructing a church that you’re going to allow political signs on your property?” Righter said.
Link’s response: “On that one day, they are renting to the state, county, federal, whoever, to operate as a polling place, so they are no longer a private entity. They are a subsidiary of the state where they are renting to us for that one particular day.”
A proposal to require all Illinois high school students to complete four years of math in order to graduate appears to be on hold for at least another year.
In action Tuesday, a Senate panel approved legislation to form a special task force to further study the four-year requirement, which was floated earlier this year in response to concerns raised by employers and college officials.
State Sen. Mike Frerichs, D-Gifford, said students are going to college unprepared for math classes and then entering the workforce without adequate math skills.
He had hoped to boost the state requirement for math from three years to four years, but a number of education groups and fellow lawmakers raised questions about how much it would cost, whether it would eliminate some class offerings in other subject areas for students and what types of subjects could be classified as math.
Illinois lawmakers might be ready to look the other way if an underage student takes a sip of alcohol as part of a cooking or food-service class — as long as he or she doesn’t swallow it.
The Senate Executive Committee Tuesday approved Senate Bill 758, dubbed the “sip and spit” bill at the Statehouse.
It would allow people between the ages of 18 and 21 to taste alcohol if they are part of a culinary arts, food service or food management program at an accredited institution. An instructor must be present, and the alcohol cannot be swallowed.
The bill was inspired by schools that teach culinary arts.
100 people surveyed, top 5 answers on the board: name an Illinois Republican who can get elected in a Democratic district.
Tom Swiss: X
Fred Crespo: X
Mitt Romney; X
Sorry ladies. Let’s see the answers: Jim Edgar, Jack Franks, Skip Saviano, Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln.
However, I know who 47th Ward is, and I know he can afford to contribute to Lutheran Social Services Illinois, so he gets in free to my birthday party today (Boone’s, starts at five o’clock, goes to closing, $20, $5 for legislative staff and secretaries), but he has to make a $50 donation to LSSI.
* Second Place goes to the inimitable Wordslinger for this play on The Godfather, Part II…
JBT: “Buffers, yeah that’s right. The party had a lot of buffers.”
CR: “I don’t know nothing about that. I have my own caucus, Senator.”
If Wordslinger cannot attend, I will randomly choose a person today and grant that person free admission.
* Honorable mention goes to OneMan. I liked his comment the best, but he can’t make it to Springfield today…
Judy and Christine sit in stunned silence after Lisa Madigan and Mike Madigan do the exact same “Who’s on First” bit they had rehearsed.
* OK, on to today’s caption contest. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Carol Marin is one of the roasters at this Saturday night’s black tie optional charity event. Carol actually called my brother Doug yesterday for background info on me. Here’s a lesson for anyone planning a roast: Never, ever invite a reporter to be on the panel. She also has my father’s phone number and I am more than a little concerned about what else she may dig up.
So, I’ve decided to comically retaliate in advance. Here’s Carol showing off her tattoo last year…
Carol Marin Chicago Sun-Times columnist, NBC 5 political editor, Chicago Tonight correspondent and…body inker? Yes, the 62-year-old, arguably Chicago’s most venerable journalist, has a tat—and she’s proud of it. Nine years ago, Marin’s son, then 16, approached her about wanting his own tattoo. “Joshua had been a great kid, so I said, ‘I’ll go with you, I’ll get one, too,’ ” she recalls. Joshua went with a sun; Mom chose a multicolored compass—both placed on their right shoulders. It’s a nod to her directional impairment. “Also,” she explains, “I went looking for a peace symbol but all had ghoulish faces and skulls in the background.” As the artist finished up her piece, Marin says, an 18-year-old girl with purple and yellow hair approached. “She looked up at me and said, ‘Does it hurt?’ I said, ‘A little bit.’ So she said, ‘Oh, I think I’ll just get my tongue pierced.’ I said, ‘Oh, honey, it’ll chip your teeth. Think about a tattoo.’ ”
Winner receives free entry to my birthday party at Boone’s, which starts today at 5 o’clock. All proceeds from the $20 entry fee ($5 for legislative staff and secretaries) benefit Lutheran Social Services of Illinois. [ADDING: I’ll post the winner’s name at the door today.]
We will have a 50-50 raffle (the winner will be announced tomorrow on the blog), and we’ll have a couple things for sale and auction. For instance, this…
* David Vite of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association claims to have worn out his shoes walking precincts for Sen. Kirk Dillard, so we’ll auction them as well…
