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A $400,000 windfall is expected to allow the city to add a pair of playgrounds and a concession area to the Family Sports Park.

“The money is for a grant application that we filed a year and a half ago,” Parks and Recreation Department Director Mary Jeanne Hutchison said. “We just learned that we’re supposed to get it. But we’re trying not to get too excited because we’re dealing with the state of Illinois.”

Hutchison said the state’s budget woes have caused money for non-essential projects to dry up in many cases. She wasn’t optimistic about getting the grant. And she said she won’t rest easy about the funds until the check arrives in the city’s bank account.

* LaSalle News-Tribune…

John Micheli of Dalzell is a retired state employee and the state had given him a choice of health care options: Sign with a costly preferred plan or with a discounted HMO.

The savings should have made this an easy choice, but there was a problem. He and his wife Linda couldn’t find a single doctor in La Salle County signed up with the HMO. The state had, effectively, offered him no choice at all.

To make matters worse, Micheli’s wife Linda went to Ottawa on Wednesday for a scheduled meeting with Central Management Services to get some answers. She arrived, John Micheli said, to find the doors “locked tighter than a drum.” Nobody showed.

“I’m disgusted,” John Micheli said, adding sarcastically, “It’s Illinois government at its best.”

* More on that topic from the SJ-R…

In short, back in April the state dropped insurance options offered beginning July 1 by Health Alliance and Humana, and added HMO options offered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois under the argument that the changeover could save as much as $100 million a year. But those moves were challenged both legally, by the dropped insurers, and legislatively, by lawmakers upset by both the lack of concrete answers offered by Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration and the dearth of choices available in some downstate communities.

Eventually, the state had to extend the sign-up deadlines, first through Friday, and then through Monday, to help people work through their confusion.

The matter got more complex when a state judge ordered some “open-access” plans dropped last week.

“They couldn’t have messed this up more if they’d stayed up nights trying,” said state Rep. David Leitch, R-Peoria. “What they’re putting all these people through is just ridiculous. . . . A lot of elderly and sick people are already in turmoil and already have a lot of things to be worrying about.”

* Switching topics, from the Sun-Times…

From more than 100 jurors questioned, 11 women and just one man are tackling 20 counts remaining against Blagojevich, charged with fraud, extortion and corruption.

Is that a good thing for the former governor?

Yes, according to a lawyer involved in Blagojevich’s first trial.

“I told Shelly [Sorosky, defense attorney], ‘Knock every man off,’” said Michael Ettinger, the former attorney for Robert Blagojevich, Rod’s brother, campaign fund manager and codefendant before prosecutors dropped charges against him last year. “If I was picking the jury, I’d have excused every man I could.”

* From a Sun-Times editorial…

Illinois took one more small step Thursday in its Rod Blagojevich detox program.

From now on, politicians of the Blagojevich ilk can no longer use state dollars to plaster their names on state signs in a thinly disguised attempt to boost their political fortunes.

* And, finally, an ironic quote in the Peoria Journal Star…

While the dispute over civil unions and foster care languishes between downstate Catholic Charities agencies and the state of Illinois, a child welfare agency based in Ottawa has agreed to take all of the foster care cases and hire all of the caseworkers and staff once handled by Catholic Charities in Rockford.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services will transfer about 300 cases to Youth Services Bureau of Illinois Valley. […]

“We welcome that sort of effort by social work professionals to help children,” said Anthony Riordan, chief operating officer of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Peoria.

[Emphasis added to all quotes.]

Thoughts?

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 10:22 am

Comments

–Rod Blagojevich detox program.–

It’s a welcome change, but it wasn’t just Blago or state officials over the years. My kid was coming back from Michigan the day Emanuel was sworn in and the new sign was going up on the Skyway hours before the ceremony. It was the first priority.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 10:34 am
When is Rod Blagojevich going to reimburse the State of Illinois / Illinois Tollway for the $500,000 signage plaster all over the Illinois Tollway?
God knows how much additional signage was statewide.
All Rod was about was self-promotion not governing anything!
Rod & Patti aren’t broke, they still own two residences. How about that condo in Washington D.C. ?????

Comment by Loving It Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 10:51 am
Blagojevich must think all women are too stupid to understand the finer points of the law, superficial, and weak in the knees over his transparent “charm.”

Comment by phocion Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 10:52 am
The downstate employees were given 3 choices to choose from for insurance. Then earlier this week, after hours of comparison shopping, they were given the news that they took 2 choices away. Paperwork was supposed to be in today, now they are being told to wait. They were told that the “old” insurance is extended for 90 days. Does anyone know what’s going on?

Comment by Lil Enchilada Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 10:59 am
Apparently,

The Blago jury selection experts adopted the Melvin Udall (As good as it Gets) philosophy for why they want female jurists.

“I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability.”

Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 11:09 am
State employee health plan - classic case of a silo solution that looks good on an Excel spreadsheet with bullet points. The ripple effects of does the solution actually work state/organization wide or only in areas the spreadsheet developer lives and understands. Small details like plans not being available in every county or significant local medical groups not signed up with the offered plans are simply not as important as saying the cost target has been met.

Comment by zatoichi Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 11:09 am
Blagojevich didn’t suggest women, Robert’s former lawyer did. Probably because the holdout on the last jury was a woman. Also because many believe women are more empathic. That whole Rod and Patti meltdown while he was on the stand didn’t happen spontaneously. It might help him, but the lying didn’t. Women, especially us mothers, know when someone is telling a ’story’.

Comment by Wensicia Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 11:20 am
- phocion
Couldn’t agree more. Rod Blagojevich and company are counting on the females jurors to deliver him to freedom. Rod’s counting on their weaknesses.
Frankly, Rod’s used up all his hair on this one!

Comment by Loving It Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 11:20 am
It is actually a good strategy. From my expericence only (and their are always exceptions and times when these rules of thumb do not work out), but:

1) Men are much more likely to keep things simple (and, if you look at the facts simply, he is guilty) where women tend to try to see more nuance and try to see more complexity in the situation.

2) Men tend to like “real men” (this is not a sexual thing, but what I men is men respond positively to men who are responsible and direct). Since Rod is such a worm, men instinctivly do not like him and thus, when in doubt, men will convict the worm. Whereas, Women have more compassion for weasles. Rod came accross so pathetic during this testimony, it is possible a female juror may want to essentially adopt the boy and tend to him. So, he could maybe get a female jury to holdout b/c he is pathetic.

Comment by I don't want to know, I already gave up Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 11:51 am
Lil, check the CMS website for full info. The SJR also has thorough coverage.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 12:09 pm
===Central Management Services … nobody showed===

Surprising in that Wednesday was usually a day you could find a CMS manager. But I guess the new ethical thing to do is be invisible all 5 work days.

CMS has yet another new director, the fifth one in 8 1/2 years. Maybe he can get restore a level of competence that has been invisible during that time.

Comment by Joe from Joliet Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 12:29 pm
I checked today and it’s all posted. It wasn’t yesterday afternoon.

Comment by Lil Enchilada Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 12:30 pm
After going thru the process and serving on a jury my feeling is this, the type of people who should serve on a jury often know how to get out of it and do. I think I could have got out of it but chose not to. The feedback from others was mostly along the lines of why didn’t you get yourself out of it. My point is this leaves an already questionable pool. There were a few folks on the jury I served with that only took up space. Totally uninvolved in the deliberations. Not sure it means anything but yes it took quite a bit of our time and a lot of review of evidence to bring two women online with the rest of the group.

Comment by Bemused Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 1:42 pm
Men are more likely to read newspapers. Even though there was virtually saturation coverage of Rod, the coverage did not really go into incredible depth, and was many times superficial. If you really wanted to go into depth, you needed to read news, not watch it. I am sure Rod did not want anyone to study his actions in depth.

Comment by Cincinnatus Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 2:24 pm
Great quote from Rep. Leitch.

He always seems so serious.

I had no idea he had a sense of humor.

And am I miss-reading, or did the CEO of Catholic Charities just admit they are not social work professionals?

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 2:25 pm
CMS has nothing to do with contracting with health care providers. That function is handled by Healthcare and Family Services. The original award HFS announced for 2 OAPs and 2 HMOs was a fair one. However, the outrage over losing Health Alliance resulted in certain legislators stepping in and in COGFA saying the expansion of self-insured plans is a no-no. The judge just said that maybe COGFA could win that argument, hence the stay. Then the dominoes continued to fall and here we are with a day to choose health plans for the next 90 days. If the original award had not been tampered with in an attempt to bring Health Alliance back, none of this would have happened.

Comment by gsb Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 2:36 pm
In response to YDD’s jaundiced (and tortured) interpretation of Riordan’s quote about civil unions and foster care: This Catholic Charities apparently has elected to stand on its convictions and opt out of State $$. I sense in Riordan’s comment a real concern for the children Catholic Charities will now no longer serve. I find his acceptance of the consequences of his organization’s principled stance refreshing.

Comment by Easily Entertained Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 2:59 pm
Of course, Blago wanted female jurors. Who else would buy his lies and phony boyish charm?

Comment by Jim Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 5:07 pm
==Who else would buy his lies and phony boyish charm?==

Umm, how many voted for him in his last election?

Are you implying they were all women?

Comment by Wensicia Friday, Jun 17, 11 @ 5:39 pm