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Â· Sweet was robbed.

Â· The Blagojevich-Stroger connection.

Â· Auto Show preview.

Â· Soldier donates flag.

Â· Oberweis not worried about lousy poll numbers, plans advertising blitz.

Â· Top 10 consumer complaints.

Â· A new documentary to be shown at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin next month - about the “f-word” - will include a piece about our old friend Alan Keyes. (Scroll way down for info).

Â· This isn’t short, but it’s fascinating.

Wrong.

That’s what local union officials are saying about claims by Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) that residents of the Illinois Veterans Home receive improper care.

“The Illinois Veterans Home is a beautiful place to live, and the care is excellent. I wouldn’t be afraid to go there myself,” said Priscilla Slater, union president of Local 1787 of AFSCME.

A report by Council 31 released Wednesday claims that staff shortages at the Quincy facility have led to a variety of care problems, and that an estimated 100 veterans were on a waiting list to get into the home even though 160 beds sit empty.

Slater says those numbers are inflated.

“We have 86 empty beds, nursing home care beds. I don’t know where they came up with 160,” she said. “And on the waiting list, there are just 53 people. I got these numbers straight from the adjutant’s office, as of yesterday.”

Slater doesn’t dispute the fact that staff shortages have required staff to work a lot of overtime, but she believes recent hirings will help ease the situation.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 4:15 pm

Comments

Sweet says “call the journalism police.” But they are unlikely to be able to help. Because the Washington Times isn’t journalism - so it’s out of their jurisdiction.

Comment by SenorAnon. Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 5:49 pm
I think we’re missing the point. State services are suffering under Rod. A severe staff shortage exists and people are suffering because of it. That’s the point.

Comment by Just a thought Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 6:24 pm
That’s not the point. The point is there is no money for anything, and Medicaid’s costs are increasing at a faster rate than the economy is growing. The question becomes, what are we going to do about it. Going back to the days on Gov Ford in the 1840s, Illinois politicians who step up to the plate and make hard choices about taxes and spending are involuntarily retired by the voters at the next election. If AFSCME wants to be productive, they’ll work for new revenues … instead of whining about the situation.

Comment by Smitty Irving Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 6:50 pm
Smitty Irving…

Amen!

Comment by Ms. Anon Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 7:09 pm
Once again AFSCME shows the constant greed of their members and their never ending quest for more milk from the public tit. That is why they like JBT, she tells them we need to hire more of these blood sucking, underworked, overpaid, overbenifited leaches on the taxpayer.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 7:53 pm
Hey us veterans are going to be taken care of with Blago’s new scratch off lottery game.Where does this bunch come up with these stupid ideas.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 8:51 pm
Overpaid? underworked?….overbenifited? I bet you wouldn’t work behind the wall with rapists, murderers,child molesters ect. watching 100 of them alone for $40,000 a year.You don’t have a clue what we do.

Comment by State worker Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 9:00 pm
Wonder who’s in charge over there at AFSCME these days. Seems like you should get your folks on the ground on the same page before you go to the media. And JBT’s staff should have done their homework too. Oftentimes when state enterprises whine about being understaffed, it’s a management problem not an actual lack of staffing problem. There are similar problems at DCFS where the Blago-appointed director has been unable to adequately staff downstate units while
grossly overstaffing Cook County….all political, of course. Cook is where the Dem votes are.

As to the veteran’s home, is institutional care the best route for these individuals. Blago’s administration has been remarkably resistant to community-based solutions for the elderly and disabled and mentally ill. I guess that’s because more state (institutional) jobs equals more patronage jobs.

As to the workload at the jails…how about a little Blago leadership in the area of not jailing first-time drug offenders. They are clogging the jails. Not sex offenders, murderers, etc. If Harry wants to drug himself to death and refuses treatment, why do I have to pay to feed, clothe and house him at one of our very, very expensive jails. Probably because jails produce (mostly Downstate) state jobs.

Comment by Cassandra Saturday, Feb 11, 06 @ 8:03 am
Cassandra:

Samuels has a deal with AFSCME to move DCFS front line positions out of Cook and into downstate. They have been working on for months. But once again, you mouth off about DCFS without knowing the facts. Did you passed over for a promotion or job?

Comment by Anonymous Saturday, Feb 11, 06 @ 12:32 pm
Anon…”they have been working on for months.”
Sounds like the kids are taking a back seat to the government employees….again.” If this was needed months ago (probably, years ago, if typical of most state government activity) then it should have happened months or years ago. Promises don’t help the kids.

Not everyone who criticizes state government is an employee past or present. Not all outsiders are clueless about the workings of state government….and they are becoming less clueless in this more transparent Internet Age.
In other words, they can read the data.

Comment by Cassandra Saturday, Feb 11, 06 @ 2:26 pm
Cassandra the way you knock state employees at every question Rich places on here I wonder if you never got that state job you always dreamed of or maybe Blago is one of your favorites.

Comment by DOWNSTATE Sunday, Feb 12, 06 @ 8:20 am