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* Stuff that didn’t fit elsewhere or came in (or was noticed) too late for Morning Shorts…

* Retired Col. Jill Morgenthaler gears up with a petition drive this weekend…

We are going to be having petition drives for Jill this Saturday and Sunday and next Saturday starting at 9:30am each day originating from our new campaign office (yes we have set up shop)… The address is 190 N. Swift Rd, Unit M in Addison.

* Um, Dan, “the most corruption-laden four years of state government ever” was probably during the 1920s, which is long before Pat Quinn was even born. Let’s refresh your memory…

Len Small was governor throughout the Roaring Twenties — that gilded age of prohibition and lawlessness.

Small was a close political ally of Chicago Mayor “Big” Bill Thompson, who was the Mafia’s chief enabler in this state. Small was also closely affiliated with Johnny Torrio, the guy who united the city’s innumerable rackets and gangsters under one umbrella during the beginning of Prohibition. Al Capone was Torrio’s top lieutenant, and when Torrio split town, Capone further refined his vast organization.

Len Small was known as the “pardoning governor.” He is alleged to have sold hundreds of pardons, mostly to gangsters. He even went so far as to pardon cop killers. In 1922, a group of Torrio’s bootleggers were on their way to Chicago when they shot and killed a motorcycle cop who was in full pursuit. Small pardoned the whole bunch.

Walter Stevens, the “dean of all Chicago’s gunmen,” was Johnny Torrio’s top trigger man. Stevens bumped off many of Torrio’s rivals. The murder of an Aurora policeman landed Stevens in prison, but Governor Small dutifully pardoned him. There were reports at the time that Stevens played a crucial role in helping Small beat an embezzlement charge. Some key evidence was “accidentally” burned by a janitor, who died soon afterwards.

Rod can’t touch that malfeasance.

* Speaking of Kankakee, the Daily Journal lists its top priorities for cleaning up state government…

* A ban on one political campaign contributing to another.
* A time limit on using donations, so they must be either returned or given to charity.
* A ban on all donations from gambling interests.
* Limits to push the system toward more small donations.

* Hey, Tribbies, if you’re gonna have a blog that invites comments, shouldn’t you post ‘em? I tried to comment on this post yesterday to point out an error. My comment’s still not up and the error hasn’t been changed.

* Springfield needs a blogger bash. If not, I may have to drive to Peoria this month.

* While we’re on the blogging subject, Zorn had high praise for your “pledge” entries. Go give him some love.

* 1-800-GOOG-411 is Google’s new, and free, directory assistance number. I gave it a try today and it seems to work well.

* From Pollster.com, Iowa caucus historical turnout. Miserable…

* New report to be released on drop-outs…

Governor Blagojevich’s Task Force on Re-enrolling Students Who Dropped Out is hosting a statewide summit on Monday, Oct. 22, 2007, in Chicago, to focus on building a system to re-enroll Illinois’ students who have dropped out of school. The Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston will release a comprehensive report on the economic, social and health consequences of dropping out.

* State Journal-Register…

Caterpillar Inc. set a record for revenue, profits and earnings per share in the latest reporting period as a result of overseas demand, the company announced today.

* Crain’s…

Caterpillar Inc., the world’s top maker of earth-moving equipment, diesel engines and gas turbines, posted disappointing quarterly earnings on Friday and cut its full-year forecast, sending its shares down about 4 percent.

* Carol Marin’s favorite joke…

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Oct 19, 07 @ 1:30 pm

Comments

Cat on S-JR and Crains

Well, “not up to expectations” works on wall street rather the same way it does in political primaries.

It’s not “did you do well” but “did you do better/worse than we thought you would”.

Most corrupt IL Gov

Gee, what a great guy to be compared to! “Hey, I’m not as bad as Capone’s Gov”.

Comment by Pat Collins Friday, Oct 19, 07 @ 1:49 pm
I kinda hate to bring this up, but weren’t Small AND Big Bill Thompson Republicans? And wasn’t Big Bill a large (pardon the pun) part of the reason all his successors have been Democrats?

Comment by Lainer Friday, Oct 19, 07 @ 2:34 pm
There should be a blogger bash in Chicago. Downstate shouldn’t have all the fun!

Comment by Levois Friday, Oct 19, 07 @ 2:47 pm
Google 411 is a great idea. It went right into my cell phone for my travels.

Comment by Highland Online Friday, Oct 19, 07 @ 2:56 pm
It’s not wrong if I said it… Na, na , na nana, na.

Comment by Tribbie A.K.A. Rod Friday, Oct 19, 07 @ 3:25 pm
How about a re-phrase for Dan. I’m sure he meant to say “Most corrupt 4 years for the vast majority of those alive in the State of Illinois.” Might as well quote a 4 year period from around the Civil War for gosh sake.

Comment by Mark Johnson Friday, Oct 19, 07 @ 3:32 pm
As a reporter I got egg on my face once for stating that a certain event was “the first of its kind” when it turned out a similar event had taken place 50 years before in another state (and a reader called us on it). From then on I covered by behind with statements like “first in memory” or “biggest in many years”. It would be accurate to say that Blago and Ryan are “the most corrupt governors in the memory of most Illinois residents.”

Comment by Lainer Friday, Oct 19, 07 @ 3:46 pm
Actually Lanier YouBet Edgar’s MSI guys got away with more swag. And “I don’t remember” was a more credible plea in those days.

Speaking of being reporters it appears the announce of the latest Cross Solution was planned and then canned for Monday.

Comment by Anon4:48 Friday, Oct 19, 07 @ 4:50 pm
Hey, I’m Swedish-American! I resemble that remark!

Comment by Ahem Saturday, Oct 20, 07 @ 9:58 am