Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Morning shorts

Posted in:

Illinois

* Tribune Editorial: Daley vs. the people

The voices we’re especially eager to hear from the many aldermen who complain Daley is forever steering into downtown Chicago the city resources and people-magnets that should be spread to their neighborhoods too.

* Sun-Times Editorial: Say no to museum in the park

For them, nowhere is a place to walk their dogs under an archway of honey locust trees — not on sidewalks, but on dirt paths worn by footsteps. “Nowhere” is an antidote for downtown office workers seeking a breath of air and a quiet stroll. “Nowhere” is where people push baby strollers, where art students sit and sketch, where elders congregate on benches in the shade. To people who use this corner, Millennium Park’s country cousin is truly “somewhere.”

* Neil Steinberg: Laws of morality on museum spat

Has the mayor even been to the Children’s Museum at Navy Pier? I used to go with the boys all the time, back when they were little. Fun, with lots of attractions — a water sluice to splash in and a ship’s rigging to climb and a room that lets kids invent their own machines.

It doesn’t have a lot of windows, however. Which is just as well because a 2-year-old playing in a ball pit doesn’t need windows. That’s why it is a travesty to suggest the museum must be moved to Grant Park. There is no reason to put it there, and suggestions to the contrary — such as Jean Pritzker’s daft notion that the museum should be in Grant Park so kiddies can toddle over to the Art Institute and admire Goya after they’re done finger painting — are ludicrous.

* AG Madigan seeks more open government; more here

Attorney General Lisa Madigan called Thursday for a united lobbying front to strengthen access to open government, which she says is improving in Illinois but still has a long way to go…

Madigan said she had no timetable for making the legislative push.

She rebuffed a question about whether she intended to run for governor in 2010, saying she’s happy being attorney general. She also declined to answer when asked whether she had an opinion on the public access track record of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration.

“I don’t, but thanks for asking,” Madigan said.

* Rising costs may factor into FutureGen’s future

* Dept. of Transportation, do-nothing worker or racist boss?

The nephew of a former Northwest Side congressman on Thursday emphatically denied making racist and sexist comments to co-workers at the city’s Department of Transportation and said he was falsely accused — and fired — for cracking the whip against unproductive city inspectors.

Joseph Annunzio, a nephew of the late Rep. Frank Annunzio (D-Ill.), said the woman who filed the bogus complaint is the girlfriend of Cook County Commissioner William Beavers, a former alderman.

* One third of pharmacies overcharged customers in city investigation

* Opinion: Plagiarism scandal raises questions about SIU’s long-term academic credibility

* SIU students speak out on Poshard

* Lawsuit claims village bias hurt her son; more here

A former Carpentersville woman filed a $30 million federal lawsuit Thursday, alleging that anti-immigrant sentiment in the village contributed to paramedics’ failure to take her son to the hospital, causing him permanent brain damage.

Ted Karavidas, a lawyer for Gloria Lopez, said “virulent anti-immigrant and anti-Hispanic rhetoric” in the northwestern suburb led to an atmosphere where paramedics denied care for the boy, violating his civil rights.

* Evanston takes lead on green issues

* Daley mocks ‘machoism’ of GOP hopeful Thompson - Calls gun show appearance ‘a political stunt’

* Friday Beer Blogging: Sin City edition

posted by Paul Richardson
Friday, Sep 21, 07 @ 9:04 am

Comments

FutureGen is not “non-polluting”. It simply seeks to pump the pollutants underground, where they become a problem for future generations to deal with.

In regard to municipalities addressing environmental issues, they may be interested in checking out Section 11‑19.1‑11 of the Municipal Code.

Comment by Squideshi Friday, Sep 21, 07 @ 9:30 am
Leaving the issue of anti-immigrant sentiment affecting quality of care to the judge, one does wonder why the Carpentersville response teams don’t have forms in Spanish. One also wonders how much latitude paramedics have to make a final diagnosis on people they assess, especially people who can’t talk.

Does the state license paramedics? Was the paramedics’ decision not to transport the child to the hospital within the best practice standard?
Maybe the paramedic manual needs an upgrade.

Any of us could need the services of a paramedic at any time, unfortunately. Immigration isssue aside, we all have a stake in the highest possible standard of care.

Comment by Cassandra Friday, Sep 21, 07 @ 9:49 am
Daley called recognition of the Second Amendment a “political stunt.”

I thought Blago had a monopoly on this kind of thing.

This Marco Morales news must have him “All Shook Up.”

Comment by Lee Majors Friday, Sep 21, 07 @ 10:01 am
Yes, Cassandra, the state license Paramedics/EMTS and the like and ongoing education is mandatory as is renewal of licenses. I have no idea how they work things in Carpenterville but with the Fire Dept/Ambulance Dept where my husband was a volunteer for 15 years we also have a large group of from Mexico/Texas that require care and transport. Here we have a camp where they live as they come in seasonal to plant/ harvest at the canning factory. An older gentleman has lead these workers for years and he and/or his family get up at all hours of the day or night to come be present when 911 calls for the workers come in.

Comment by Princeville Friday, Sep 21, 07 @ 10:06 am
FYI the Seventh Circuit sided with AG Madigan in the horse slaughter lawsuit. Opinion issued this morning.

Comment by Anon Friday, Sep 21, 07 @ 10:13 am
Mayor Daley underestimates the voting power of gun owners in America.

Comment by Pro-Gunner Friday, Sep 21, 07 @ 10:37 am
So any bets on when the bulldozers show up in Daley Bicenntenial to take down the old fieldhouse and playground to make room for the kids musuem. Daley’s enraged on this one and taking it personally (in private and public) given the park is named for daddy.

Comment by Niles Township Friday, Sep 21, 07 @ 11:22 am
Machoism!!What’s the Daley talking about…here’s a guy who bulldozes a perfectly functioning airport and now is behind, and finds no problem with the removal of a cemetery. I wonder if he would feel the same way if someone would suggest moving his father and other kin like his son from the cemetery where they’re burried in the interest of “creating more jobs”….after all like he said “this is done all over.”

Comment by ChicagoDem Friday, Sep 21, 07 @ 9:00 pm