Hamos raises $540K for 10th CD race
Thursday, Oct 1, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller Details at the new website. Click here.
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Let’s try that again, shall we?
Thursday, Oct 1, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * Yesterday’s test launch of our new website crashed the servers. The good folks over at MCS have been working on a fix and they’ve asked that we try another test. So, please click here and test it out. Try commenting on that first post at the top as well, please. Thanks much.
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Today in social media
Thursday, Oct 1, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * Our Tweet of the Day award goes to the Illinois Radio Network’s Dave Dahl…
Yikes. * Former Senate appropriations director Elgie Sims is running for Cook County Board against that goofy Bill Beavers. The Sims campaign has a Twitter and FaceBook page. * Sen. Dan Rutherford posts the most useless political Tweet of the day…
* The Illinois Chamber appears to be squirming after it was jokingly paired with President Obama. From September 29th…
Turns out, being a Comedy Central “hit” is not so pleasant…
Heh. * Scott Cisek gets the Most Ironic Tweet of the Day award…
* Most Intriguing Tweet of the Day award to Ray Hanania…
If true, that could explain some things. * Most Intriguing FaceBook Post
Wow. * A Crain’s Tweet from early this morning…
And then two hours later…
Um, OK. Which is it? * Funniest Tweet award to Samantha Abernethy…
* Echo chamber…
Sorry. I’m otherwise engaged.
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Question of the day
Thursday, Oct 1, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * This video of 32nd House District candidate Syron Smith got me to thinking… * The Question: Are there any legislative or local candidates in your area who are using any “new media” - YouTube, blogging, etc.? If so, what are they doing?
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The fun never ends
Thursday, Oct 1, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * Patti Blagojevich is suing her former employer the Chicago Christian Industrial League for defamation. You can read the lawsuit by clicking here. Blagojevich claims in her suit that a top official at the CCIL accused her of “stealing” the group’s donor list. Blagojevich has said in the past that CCIL didn’t have an e-mail donor list, so she used her own e-mail list when she was hired…
The controversy came to light when Michael Sneed reported that the CCIL was upset that Blagojevich was using the donor list to promote her husband’s book. That Sneed column is no longer online, but here’s the money quote…
I don’t believe Roberts ever used the words “steal” or “stole” or “stealing,” so I’m not sure whether this suit has any merit because right up front she claims that Roberts outright said one of those words…
Whatever. Expect yet another media frenzy.
One can only wonder what that other 20 percent might be.
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Ditka endorses Hughes for Senate
Thursday, Oct 1, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * Former Bears coach Mike Ditka has endorsed conservative Republican US Senate candidate Patrick Hughes. Hughes is up against Congressman Mark Kirk, among others, in the Senate primary. From a press release…
Maybe now Hughes will get some mainstream media coverage. The MSM has almost completely ignored the guy, although ABC7 did run a recent report that quoted Hughes whacking Kirk for missing a congressional vote to extend unemployment insurance benefits…
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Murphy explains switch, Cook Repubs unveil new video
Thursday, Oct 1, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller [The top item was deleted because I am apparently too stupid to realize that today is the first day of October, so the federal campaign reporting deadline has passed. Sheesh, what a week this has been. Sorry.] * Republican State Sen. Matt Murphy hasn’t really talked about why he dropped out of the governor’s race to be Andy McKenna’s running mate. He breaks his silence today. Click here for his entire statement, but here are some excerpts…
* The Cook County GOP released a new video at its recent convention. Take a look at Why we Fight… Rate it?
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Old Yeller
Thursday, Oct 1, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * Once again, a recent Chicago Tribune editorial was packed with hyperbole and woefully short on facts…
Where to begin? First, AFSCME has submitted budget-cutting ideas worth millions of dollars. They’ve been ignored by the governor’s office and the Tribune. AFSCME was also trying to protect its contract. Hardly surprising, except for the grumpy old men types at the Trib. Second, the vast majority of Democratic legislators knew there would have to be budget cuts. They aren’t totally stupid. What they disagreed on for so long was where to cut. And only a few of those with big facilities in their districts were hugely concerned with AFSCME. Still, if even those members were wholly owned by AFSCME then why did they vote for a budget which doesn’t fully fund state worker/retiree health care and which essentially required state employee layoffs? Third, raising taxes was the “easier solution”? Really? That’s why income taxes were increased so high last spring? Oh, wait. Taxes weren’t increased. A tax hike bill failed miserably in the House. And passing a tax hike during an election season next year will be easy? Only in the Trib’s warped collective brain. Fourth, every tax hike proposal - including the House proposal, the larger Senate Democratic plan and the governor’s various ideas - required budget cuts. Nobody ever put forth serious legislation which would’ve fully funded government at last fiscal year’s original appropriations levels. Nobody. The Tribune editorial board has always had a wide streak of yellow journalism to it, going back to its founding. But, lately, that wide streak has engulfed the entire page. By regularly embracing wild, unsubstantiated charges and rejecting actual thought, the Trib has denigrated itself almost beyond repair. As always, the Tribune’s behavior is having an impact throughout Illinois. * Today, the Peoria Journal-Star follows the Tribune’s lead with an editorial entitled: Who’s the boss at Illinois, Inc.? The Trib edit hed was: AFSCME, running Illinois. That’s how things work in this state. Mother Tribune fires the first volley and then its little buddies follow suit. From the PJ-Star editorial…
OK, so a union files a lawsuit to protect its contract and its members and now all of a sudden it’s running the government? The reality is that AFSCME has fewer political allies today than it’s had in my entire career.
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Hot buttons and reform
Thursday, Oct 1, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * Conservative activists in this state, along with a tiny handful of allies in Chicago’s opinion media, have stressed their “anti corruption” and “pro reform” positions above just about all else. Some cynics have claimed that the Right has done this in order to play down its “real” social issues agenda to become more politically acceptable. But, if the cynics are right, isn’t that a smart move? By calling out corruption and pushing reform, the messengers can build credibility over time. That, in turn, can help when the same messengers push their other agenda items. Plus, “hot button” issues often aggravate me (and many others) to no end, so I, for one, am glad to see them de-emphasized. Compromise are rendered nearly impossible because positions are so hard on both sides. And both sides usually declare as an apostate anybody who would try to walk down the middle - and are well-funded and well-organized enough to make it stick. Think Judy Baar Topinka on abortion, for instance. She considered herself pro-choice, but the pro-choice groups believed she was pro-life because she was against them on a few issues. And the pro-life groups derided her as a pro-choice extremist. * I won’t blame the Right. Blagojevich’s arrest is most certainly behind this latest craze, but it certainly seems to me that over the past several months “reform” has replaced the usual suspects as the mindless, emotional hot button in Illinois. Nobody wants to debate the actual issues, they just want to scream at each other. Anybody who dares offer up a compromise or criticism of the reformers’ proposals is derided as a tool of the entrenched, corrupt establishment. In the meantime, actual hot button issues are beginning to fade away. Gay marriage, for instance. That issue was once so extreme that only a tiny handful would touch it. But with Iowa, of all places, legalizing gay marriage right next door and still managing to exist, arguments against the issue are, so far, quite muted here. As you already know, two Democratic US Senate candidates - Giannoulias and Hoffman - support gay marriage. Another Dem candidate supports civil unions, which was also a formerly untouchable position. And Mark Brown writes today about a bill that will be introduced to legalize gay marriage in Illinois…
One major reason behind this legislation is that Steans has a Democratic primary opponent who is also a gay rights activist. Here’s part of his press release…
That’s probably correct. But, it’s also how things get moved forward over time in the General Assembly. Legislators feel political pressure, introduce a bill to ameliorate that pressure, and then eventually it may actually pass, if the pressure is strong enough. Maybe not next year, but maybe in the future. This is true on both the Left and the Right. The press release continues…
Well, that’s just stupid. Steans didn’t sign on as a co-sponsor of a House bill because it’s still in the House and therefore only has House sponsors. Sheesh.
Again, Steans is a Senator, not a House member. And both of her House members are solidly in the civil unions camp since they’re both sponsoring the bill. Nearby House members are also with the program. I doubt the freshman Steans would have much influence with the remaining holdouts. And, Steans’ marriage bill may eventually help push the civil unions bill forward, or eventually force a compromise. The Statehouse argument so far has been between civil unions and the status quo. Toss gay marriage into the mix and maybe that pushes civil unions more into the center. We’ll see. But I don’t think they’ll do anything much in an election year. I could be wrong, but that’s usually a sure-fire way to heat things back up again. * Back to reform. After pushing several positive steps towards reform, the Right is now trying to fuse their social stances with reform issues, and that position is moving into the mainstream of their party. The most obvious example is this SEIU/ACORN kerfluffle, which liberal-moderate Republican Congressman Mark Kirk has so eagerly embraced in his US Senate bid. And they’re planning to increase the heat. From a press release posted at Illinois Review…
For a Republican primary, this is a very politically astute move - if somewhat dishonest. ACORN Illinois doesn’t get “millions” of dollars from the state government. It’s been shut down for two years. Anyway, just a few trends I’ve been noticing and I thought I’d share my admittedly somewhat random thoughts. Yours?
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Morning Shorts
Thursday, Oct 1, 2009 - Posted by Mike Murray * Poverty rate up 14% in state in 9 yrs.
* Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan sues debt-settlement firm
* Boom for community colleges
* Chicago Public Housing Plan Marks 10 Years
* Office of Cook County president hires law firm to investigate county finances * City’s test: Clean up corruption * Fugitive Marco Morales pleads not guilty to 1997 drug charge * North Carolina man hired as Capitol architect * Government Files Brief in Conrad Black Supreme Court Appeal * Gun advocates predict drop in crime if gun ban is lifted * A target on Chicago * Gun control is among Supreme Court’s cases * Supreme Court Reviews Chicago Firefighter Discrimination Case * No guarantee, but Chicago should get it * Daley to sign Olympic agreement
* Daley: Olympics campaign a ‘tough election’
* Six Olympics protesters charged with mob action * Springfield’s Olympic offerings: Lincoln and Route 66 * Public schools need total disclosure * Old Post Office deal not sealed and delivered yet
* Doctors get bonuses from Illinois
* Illinois getting health care recruitment help
* More than 3,000 Muslims in Illinois prisons, statistics say * Pontiac to relive fight for prison
* CPS Meets With Fenger Parents and Community Residents * Shocking video of fatal beating hard to watch * Another boy critically beaten: ‘Blood all over street’ * Degorski eligible for death penalty, jury rules
* Chicago, Boston tie at 10th in hippest college grad cities * Breast cancer death rates still falling * Illinois to get shipments of swine flu vaccine
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SEIU issue moves to the 10th CD, and other political stories
Wednesday, Sep 30, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * SEIU and ACORN have now become an issue in the 10th Congressional District GOP primary. From a press release…
IllinoisReview has compiled a list of some Republicans who took money from SEIU. * Once again, Pat Quinn referred to Dan Hynes as an ankle biter…
Quinn gets on a phrase and can’t get off of it. Chirping on the sidelines is another one. He referred to Hynes as an ankle biter last month in southern Illinois when asked about a Hynes critique…
* Little surprise here. Congressman Danny Davis may be leaning towards reelection. From The Hill via Progress Illinois…
He hasn’t muscled anyone out at all, and it won’t ever happen. A group of black ministers are having a tough time with the county president’s campaign as well…
At least one of those ministers also had a tough time watching his language…
“The forces of evil.” Sheesh. Todd Stroger was also at the meeting…
He lives in another world, campers. A world that none of us will ever visit. * Speaking of other worlds, Ab Mikva thinks David Hoffman is less of a long shot than Barack Obama was…
Yeah, but he raised a lot of money, ran a super-smart campaign and was a natural. He also had something that Hoffman completely lacks: Campaign experience, including a defeat. * Here’s something else to consider when backing longshots in the primary…
Tougher and a whole lot more expensive. It won’t be easy to go from relative obscurity to beating a well-known, well-funded candidate by February 2nd. * Other stuff…
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Sep 30, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * The big news today, of course, is the US Supreme Court has decided to hear an appeal to overturn Chicago’s handgun ban. * The Question: Should the US Supreme Court strike down Chicago’s handgun ban? Explain, and tell us where you live (Chicago, suburbs, Downstate).
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Dead doctors, dead patients and Illinois pays the tab
Wednesday, Sep 30, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * A new Government Accountability Office audit out of DC has found some serious abuses of the Medicaid prescription program. The GAO looked at five states, including Illinois. Those states alone made up 40 percent of Medicaid’s prescription-drug payments in fiscal years 2006 and 2007, according to a story in USA Today…
Not good at all. Here’s what the GAO found…
Dead voters, dead patients and dead doctors. A perfect fit for Illinois [/snark]. In the big picture, we’re not talking about a gigantic dollar amount here. It’s less than $33 million per year for two years - and that’s all five states combined. If Illinois shares equally, that’s less than $7 million, or about $3.5 million in state dollars at a 50-50 match. With the state’s ongoing budget problems, this could become an issue, however. The full GAO report is here. * More budget stuff…
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*** UPDATED x1 *** From the “Strange Campaign” files
Wednesday, Sep 30, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller *** UPDATE *** William Kelly has asked his supporters to come over here and comment because he thinks we’re being unfair to him. He apparently doesn’t respond well to criticism. I’ve already deleted several comments from his supporters because they are commenting under different names with the same IP address. Very stupid move, and usually done to make it look like somebody has more supporters than they actually do. Those people are banned from the blog for good. They probably don’t care because they’re newbies anyway. Still, if you come here, expect to play by the rules or you’ll just be deleted. Thanks. [ *** End of Update *** ] * I guess it takes all kinds to make a political world. William Kelly, the host of a twice a week Comcast Cable TV show which airs after midnight, has tried and tried to get noticed by a wider audience, without a lot of luck. Kelly began his quest by challenging Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias to a charity boxing match. No coverage resulted and there was no response from Giannoulias, of course. Then, Kelly stopped Giannoulias in front of a US Senate campaign fundraiser on the morning of September 11th to interview him. Giannoulias smiled, said “It’s good to see you, Bill” and walked away. Kelly sent out a press release claiming he had “flustered” Giannoulias, but that’s not really what the videotape showed. The video did earn Kelly a write-up in a Washington Times blog, but little else. So, like just about everybody else in the world, Kelly has now jumped on the SEIU/ACORN bandwagon and tried to talk to Giannoulias at a fundraising event this week. Giannoulias kept walking. Hard to blame him. Here’s the video… From Kelly’s press release today…
* Kelly is actually running for comptroller as a Republican. This has to be one of the oddest campaign strategies I’ve ever seen. Giannoulias is the treasurer. So, what’s the beef? I just don’t get it. Strange. It’s really all for naught anyway because he’s gonna get creamed by Judy Baar Topinka in the GOP primary. And I gotta wonder how long Comcast is going to tolerate him using his TV show to boost his campaign and vice-a-versa. But, hey, this is a free country. It’s actually kind of fun to watch Giannoulias squirm a bit. But this is weird, man. Weird.
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Jesse White kicks off final campaign
Wednesday, Sep 30, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * Secretary of State Jesse White formally kicked off his reelection campaign yesterday. If he wins, and it’s more than just highly doubtful that anybody could beat him, he’ll get a fourth term. And if he serves out that term, he’ll have held the job longer than anyone else in Illinois history. But this will almost undoubtedly be his last campaign…
White ran in 1998 and promised not to use the office as a springboard. Jim Edgar and George Ryan had both used their SoS tenure to get them elected governor. But White’s promise has meant that nobody else has been able to move up the ladder. SoS is a much coveted job, to say the least. So, while he’ll be lauded for the next year by members of both parties, inside many will be plotting their 2014 bids. Most of the heavy-hitters showed up for White’s Chicago announcement yesterday…
Not too sure what to make of Hynes’ no-show. …Adding… I’ve been told that Hynes’ twin sons had a birthday yesterday. Completely understandable why he missed the event. White didn’t just announce in Chicago. He also headed Downstate…
White is a talented politician. He won all 102 Illinois counties in 2002 - an amazing feat. His work with the Jesse White Tumblers made him a hero in many minds. Few people even want to drive past Cabrini Green, let alone go in there and turn so many kids around…
And he wisely made some early moves to clean up his office which have allowed him to stay in the office…
He’s about as close to unbeatable as one can get in politics. It’s no wonder that the Republicans had to search high and low and ended up with an amateur from Aurora to run against him. Thoughts?
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Morning Shorts
Wednesday, Sep 30, 2009 - Posted by Mike Murray * Oops: County computer error further delays Cook tax bills
* Daley appoints CHA chief Peterson to CTA board * Mayor Daley taps ex-campaign manager to lead CTA board
* Gift cards for city workers?
* Weis: Help us get others
* Fenger beating death: Violence, tension had been building over years
* Guilty verdict in Brown’s Chicken case * Jurors to Decide on Death Penalty in Brown’s Chicken Case * Oak Lawn board OKs sexual harassment settlement
* Chicago Olympics: How the Copenhagen vote will work Friday * IOC to 2016 bidders: Play nice * Poll shows Chicagoans, Americans support 2016 Games in U.S.: Ryan * Poll shows steady support for Olympics: Chicago 2016 * Community Organizer Says Olympics Will Bring Long-Awaited Improvements * Protestors Against Chicago Olympics Gather at City Hall
* Some Chicago residents hoping Olympics bid a bust * South Side Resident Fears Chicago Olympics Will Uproot Community * City failed to sell key Olympic idea: Fun * Landing Games would be 7-year feast of news * Joliet hoping to boost profile if Chicago wins Olympics
* Blue Island reaches deals with unions to avoid most layoffs
* Elk Grove Village restaurants offer 10 percent off meals * Support drying up for early learning center
* New Lenox approves round -the-clock construction on Wal-Mart * Illinois utility begins light bulb recycling
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A little problem
Wednesday, Sep 30, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * The template I chose for our new website is currently unable to handle the sort of high-volume traffic that we experience here on a regular basis. We’re working on a fix, but we’re also taking the new site offline for a while because it was killing this site as well (they’re both on the same servers). Be patient. We’ll get it worked out somehow. I’d hate to have to start all over again, though. Sheesh, that was a lot of work.
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax
Wednesday, Sep 30, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Tell the truth, governor
Tuesday, Sep 29, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * Gov. Pat Quinn is hosting a rally of university types this afternoon at UIC. The rally is designed to boost Quinn’s efforts to pass legislation to fund the rest of the year’s MAP scholarship grant program. The money runs dry at the end of this semester. But as I told subscribers in detail yesterday, Quinn has blamed everybody else except himself for this mess. Dan Hynes’ campaign issued a press release earlier today suggesting six questions that should be asked of Quinn at the rally. Question 2…
Quinn made that “no reservations about signing the budget” comment during a July press conference that we videotaped at the time. Quinn, you may recall, surrounded himself with his budget staff during the media event. I’ve isolated Quinn’s “no reservations” comment for you today. Also in this clip, Quinn talks about how he would have to “manage” the budget “very well” to make sure everything went smoothly. I guess that didn’t happen? Watch it… Question 3…
As I told subscribers yesterday, the governor used his wide discretionary authority (given to him by the General Assembly) to squirrel away $180 million in a reserve account. But throughout this MAP debate, Quinn hasn’t said Word One about using that cash stash to help keep the scholarship program alive. The program is short about $225 million. Instead, he wants to raise income taxes to shore up the program or hike the cigarette tax by a buck a pack. * In other political news, the National Journal today defended its decision a few weeks ago to raise the competitive rating of Illinois’ US Senate race to the second-most vulernable seat in the country…
Thoughts? Hoffman, by the way, was endorsed today by Abner Mikva. * Other campaign stuff…
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The trouble with witch hunts
Tuesday, Sep 29, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * One of the problems with witch hunts - aside from the fact that they’re too often used for nefarious purposes - is that they eventually start to burn those who merely associated with the alleged witches. Things can get way out of hand because it becomes impossible to stop the endless strings of associations that can be made. And so it goes with this ACORN thing. Not content to just bash the organization, it’s now been deemed necessary by some that those who’ve associated with the group must also be demonized. Enter Republican US Senate candidate Mark Kirk. You’d think with all the boasting about how Kirk is the heavy-duty GOP primary front-runner, that someone known as one of the most liberal Republicans in DC (which is somewhat of a misnomer because DC GOPdom is so rightwardly skewed) wouldn’t have to prove he’s just like those bloggers at Illinois Review. Now, don’t get me wrong here. IR does a very good job on many, many things. But the site has been obsessed with ACORN lately and has been pairing the group with the Service Employees International Union in a single name for weeks. Kirk eagerly jumped on the IR bandwagon yesterday and produced a complicated flow-chart to demonstrate why the US Census should disown SEIU because the union has supported ACORN in the past. ABC7 didn’t cover the presser, and neither did NBC5 or CBS2. The Olympics coverage is pretty much drowning out almost everything right now. Fox Chicago had a preview of yesterday’s Kirk presser on its early morning show, but nothing else has been posted on its site. The Tribune ran a brief story…
The Sun-Times mixed in a foreign policy angle…
* Obviously, Kirk is following the classic GOP presidential election strategy. Move way right in the primary and then move to the center for the general. Reassure the Downstaters and the more right-leaning suburbanites that he’s with them now. Then worry about assuaging the moderate independents later. He’s also obviously taking advantage of the fact that SEIU has endorsed the Democratic frontrunner, Alexi Giannoulias. But, as I’ve pointed out before, this SEIU thing is a landmine for Illinois Republicans. State Rep. Beth Coulson is considered the best bet to hold onto Kirk’s US House seat, but she’s been endorsed by SEIU in the past. GOP gubernatorial candidate Kirk Dillard received an SEIU contribution earlier this year. The Republican State Senate Campaign Committee accepted $10,000 from SEIU in March. House Republican Leader Tom Cross took a $10K contribution in February from SEIU Healthcare, which was once a brother/sister of ACORN Illinois, back when the group existed (there are actually two $10K contris listed from SEIU to Cross on the same day, but that could be a duplicate computer entry). As explained at the top, it’s dangerous to conduct a guilt by association witch hunt of SEIU when so many of Kirk’s fellow Illinois Republicans have been taking the union’s cash over the years. If SEIU is guilty of its associations with ACORN, then what does that say about the Republicans who have associated with SEIU? Where does the witch hunt end? Does he want to burn them all? Maybe that’s why yesterday’s presser was so lightly covered.
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Morning Shorts
Tuesday, Sep 29, 2009 - Posted by Mike Murray * Data shows more Illinois residents live in poverty
* Applause for Mayor Daley’s Olympic effort * PJSTAR: An Olympian effort from the Windy City * Chicago delegation leaves for Copenhagen * Olympic countdown: Long night’s journey into day * With Games on the line, we’ve got perfect go-to guy * Will Obama tip Olympic scales for Chicago? * Chicagoans Protest the 2016 Bid
* If we end up losing … * Blame Rio site on ad exec * Report: Fire city public safety exec
* Sources: Ex-CHA chief, Daley ally next CTA head
* Congress Hotel: Despite strike, judge allows sidewalk cafe
* Escapee case: 2 investigators overpowered by felon may face administrative charges
* In-your-face brutality rivets and disgusts
* Tensions Flare at Vigil for Teen Beating Victim
* 3 teenagers charged in Chicago beating death
* 4th teen charged in beating death of student
* Fenger High School: Fear, frustration come to campus
* When school bell rings, hell can break loose
* Union leader: Mayor ‘a threat’ to Rockford
* $2.5M going to reduce Illinois DNA backlog * Illinois 33rd Brigade wraps up Afghanistan mission
* Troops’ return ends Ill. Guard Afghan mission
* Nativity scene to be back in Capitol this Christmas * Late harvest, shorter days could mean danger for farmers * Every 26 seconds, someone hits a deer
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Sep 29, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller • I’m in transit so blogging will resume later this morning. Let’s reverse the order today and do the question first. • Whom are you supporting in the US Senate campaign? Why?
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