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* 1:59 pm - Well, actually, I’m coming a bit late to the game so it isn’t “just in,” but it’s still news.
Colleen Callahan may be the Democrats’ choice to take Dick Versace’s place on the 18th Congressional District ballot…
A familiar voice to WMBD radio listeners wants to go into politics. Former WMBD Agri-Business Director Colleen Callahan tells 1470 WMBD she had been asked to consider being the Democratic nominee for the 18th District congressional seat being vacated by the retiring Ray LaHood and she’s interested in running. Callahan admits it was a tough decision to make, but she thinks her agriculture and communications backgrounds will suit her well in Congress, if she’s elected.
* Billy Dennis has more…
“I was asked to consider it by people in the district,” she said. “I have consulted with members of my family and decided it was the right thing to do.”
She owns Colleen Callahan Communications, but is better known as a agriculture reporter and commentator on local radio and televisions. Her Website says that for 24 years, she hosted an award-winning daily feature segment on WMBD-TV (Peoria, IL) and WCIA-TV (Champaign, IL).
* 2:02 pm - Not good at all…
The Illinois Association of Realtors said Thursday sales of single-family homes and condominiums fell 27.7 percent last month to 7,719 compared to December 2006, while total 2007 sales were off 16.9 percent to 137,133.
In the Chicago metro area, home sales in December fell 33.2 percent from a year ago to 5,033. For the year, sales were down 20.5 percent.
* 2:14 pm - Kiyoshi picked up on this today and we missed it. Ray Hanania interviews Speaker Madigan’s spokesman Steve Brown. Listen here.
* 2:34 pm - Pat Quinn takes a couple of swings at Gov. Blagojevich…
Ethics legislation needs to be approved before the Illinois General Assembly passes a statewide building program for roads and schools, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn said Thursday.
“We can’t be giving out highway contracts and then having the governor the next day say, ‘Hey, how about contributing to my fundraiser?’” Quinn told reporters at the Statehouse. “That’s trouble with a capital T.”
Quinn also said Gov. Rod Blagojevich should disclose exactly what services his campaign has been buying from the Chicago law firm of Winston & Strawn. Campaign reports filed this week brought billings by that firm, where former Gov. Jim Thompson works, to more than $2 million .
* 3:10 pm - Man, they’re really stretching it now…
Barack Obama angered fellow Democrats in the Illinois Senate when he voted to strip millions of dollars from a child welfare office on Chicago’s West Side. But Obama had a ready explanation: He goofed.
“I was not aware that I had voted no,” he said that day in June 2002, asking that the record be changed to reflect that he “intended to vote yes.”
That was not the only misfire for the former civil rights attorney first elected to the state Senate in 1996. During his eight years in state office, Obama cast more than 4,000 votes. Of those, according to transcripts of the proceedings in Springfield, he hit the wrong button at least six times.
Apparently, there is no penalty to pay for using Blair Hull oppo.
* 4:43 pm - I hadn’t noticed this before, but Chicago Tonight is putting video snippets on their website now. Hat tip: Larry.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 2:01 pm
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yet, home prices are not falling. This trend will continue until realtors and banks start realizing that the the way to get the market back up is to lower prices and stop lending money to buyers who can’t afford to pay loans.
Comment by pickles!! Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 2:12 pm
Sorry Pickles.
The market areas I see show lowered prices as well as slow sales.
Think there is still evidence out there to start jailing some of the less ethical lenders. They should suffer like their victims.
Comment by plutocrat03 Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 2:44 pm
Pickles did you read this part?….
In Illinois, the median home sale price for the year was $204,000, down 0.5% from 2006, while prices in the Chicago metro area gained 2.4% to $254,000.
“While coastal markets fuel the national headlines with severe home price adjustments, the value of a home in Illinois as a family’s long-term investment remains strong with modest price declines reported in some markets,” said Kay Wirth, president of the Illinois Association of REALTORS, in a statement. In December, the median home price in Chicago was up 1.1 percent to $247,800.
Nationally, the median price for a single-family home dropped 1.8 percent to $217,000 – the first time the median home price dropped for the entire year in four decades.
That was the first annual price decline on records going back to 1968. ….FIRST DECLINE in 40 years….That was Lyndon Johnson, Vietnam. Ring some bells
Comment by Reddbyrd Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 2:45 pm
Tell Kiyoshi to take LSD from the Dan Ryan next time she is heading to Evanston. NEVER take the Kennedy if at all possible. Even on a sunny day. I was looking forward to her podcast.
Comment by Been There Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 2:54 pm
I will, but Kiyoshi is a he. lol
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 2:56 pm
Wow! You made my day! To think that we might actually practice democracy in the 18th!
I might yet have a reason to go to the poll in November.
Comment by Vole Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 2:58 pm
Callahan-Burns has been contributing to Ray LaHood’s campaigns in recent years.
Comment by oops! Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 3:17 pm
Of those, according to transcripts of the proceedings in Springfield, he hit the wrong button at least six times.
Well, there you have it. I know who I’m voting for. No way I want him near that nuke button.
Comment by The 'Broken Heart' of Rogers Park Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 3:23 pm
I was looking forward to her podcast.
LOL. Don’t worry. You’re not the first to think my name is that of a “her.” Credit card companies and spam e-mailers often get it wrong, too.
Comment by Kiyoshi Martinez Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 3:24 pm
lol
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 3:24 pm
“During his eight years in state office, Obama cast more than 4,000 votes. Of those, according to transcripts of the proceedings in Springfield, he hit the wrong button at least six times.”
That’s it! What if that was the nuclear launch button!?!?
The man cannot be trusted!
Comment by GoBearsss Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 3:25 pm
Rich, I think this hitting the wrong button story is what Hillary has been talking about.
Her secret weapon.
This, and his dreams as a kindergartener, do not a president make.
Comment by GoBearsss Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 3:27 pm
Hmmm…housing sales are down 20.5% for the year (Rich’s post) but home values are up by 2.4% (Reddbyrd’s post) in Chicagoland. Seems like this area is weathering the storm better than most. Building permits for new residential units in the burgeoning Will-Kendall-Kane corridor were down from the last few years, but they are still on pace with the rate of the early 2000’s. And it’s about time those areas caught a breather.
Regarding Quinn’s statement, “We can’t be giving out highway contracts and then having the governor the next day say, ‘Hey, how about contributing to my fundraiser?’”
Funny he didn’t mention “We can’t be having the governor say, ‘Hey, how about contributing to my fundraiser?’ and then giving out highway contracts.”
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 3:28 pm
Six, considering how home prices have risen in Chicago, a 2.5 pecent increase might as well be a drop.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 3:33 pm
Which is worse, hitting the wrong button six times out of 4000 or voting wrong once and costing 4000 American lives?
Comment by Vole Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 3:39 pm
It’s good to know the Dems will field a serious candidate against Kid Nuke.
Comment by Carl Nyberg Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 3:41 pm
Sorry Kiyoshi. Should have checked your web site first. At least I got the spelling right. Now you are probably going to tell me you are not Irish. I better stop making presumptions.
Comment by Been There Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 4:12 pm
Rich-
No, just a market correction like any commodity. It all averages out to a steady rise, at least up until now. Tomorrow or next year may tell a different story. And I will reiterate my opinion that, though the housing and development industry has been battered around here like most places, it could be worse and is a lot worse in other areas of the country. And from where I sit, I see millions being invested over the long term in planning projects for this so-called stagnant market.
No national crisis yet, just a down cycle like the mid-70’s with their double digit interest rates. It is a personal tragedy for those who bit off more than they could chew and are now paying the price, or those who are having a hard time selling their home when they get transferred, or a myriad of other stories.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 4:19 pm
Wow if home prices stall, Hooli won’t be able to jack up assessments, 7% “solution will not be needed and Hooli can got back to “reforming” the FOI program in his office.
TTFN
Comment by GettingJonesed Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 4:23 pm
BT, I think he’s Ukranian.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 4:28 pm
I heard I was Chinese and Mexican, but my parents say Japanese and Puerto Rican. In the end, I only can speak English (and write it!) so it’s kind of a moot point.
If anyone’s curious, the preferred term is “Latasian” as decided by my brother and I.
Comment by Kiyoshi Martinez Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 4:31 pm
Capt. Fax:
You should have mentioned the LA TImes needed to quote IL’s biggest blowhard —H’wood Hendon — as being mad at Obama. Quite a stretch. It is good to see H’wood have to swallow his words on a national stage…
“Shortly afterward, Obama chastised Republicans for their “sanctimony” in claiming that only they had the mettle to make tough choices in a tight budget year. And he called for “responsible budgeting.”
A fellow Democrat suddenly seethed with anger. “You got a lot of nerve to talk about being responsible,” said Sen. Rickey Hendon, accusing Obama of voting to close the child welfare office.
Obama replied right away. “I understand Sen. Hendon’s anger. . . . I was not aware that I had voted no on that last — last piece of legislation,” he said.
Obama asked that the record reflect that he meant to vote yes. Then he requested that Hendon “ask me about a vote before he names me on the floor.”
Hendon declined to discuss the episode. “I try to block out unpleasant memories,” said Hendon, who has endorsed Obama. “If I tried really hard to remember it, I probably could, but I’m not going to try hard because I’m supporting the senator all the way.”
Hendon said “it happens” that senators press the wrong button. But he was quick to add: “I’ve never done it.”
Comment by GettingJonesed Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 4:34 pm
I think they are stretching it a bit and that was a extremely confusing day (over two hundred thirty veto override votes), but come on, that little line by legislators is a joke. This is what they need to say from now on.
“Mr. President, I accidentally hit my RED button instead of mr GREEN button, even though one is RED, and one is GREEN, and I had three staffers standing behind me telling everyone to vote GREEN, and everybody else on my side of the aisle voted GREEN, so could you please let the record reflect that although I am not colorblind, I apparently cannot tell RED from GREEN.”
Comment by Jaded Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 4:44 pm
===Then he requested that Hendon “ask me about a vote before he names me on the floor.”===
And shortly after that, the two men threw down. I was there for that. Quite something.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 4:48 pm
Rich, please explain what you meant by “threw down”? Did they get loud or did it turn physical?
Comment by jwscott72 Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 7:43 pm
Regarding the housing market, Capitol Area RE says (and, No, I’m not associated with the RE industry…):
Local Home Sales Up 8.2 Percent in December
SPRINGFIELD (January 24, 2008) The unit home sales rate and the median home sale price increased in the Capital Area during December 2007, according to the
Capital Area Association of REALTORS® (CAAR) Multiple Information Service.
For the month of December 2007, total home sales which include single-family and condominiums) were up 8.2 percent with 224 homes sold, compared to 207 homes sold in December of 2007. For year-to-date through December of 2007 home sales totaled 4,002, down 4.1 percent from the 4,175 homes sold during the same period of time during 2006.
Available inventory at the end of December 2007 was 1,643 reflecting a 4.1 percent decrease from the 1,713 inventory a year earlier. “Inventory has been the achilles heel of our market for the past few years,” said REALTOR® Phil Chiles president of the Capital Area Association of REALTORS®. “Whether this dip in inventory is temporary or will signal a trend remains to be seen. Regardless, inventory levels are still about 23.0 percent over where they were four years ago,” said Chiles.
The Capital Area median home sale price in December was $111,500, reflecting an increase of 18.6 percent from the $94,000 December 2006 price. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more, half sold for less.
The median price for year-to-date through December of 2007 was $104,500, a 5.6 percent increase over the $99,000 median price from the same period in 2006.
The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. reported that the national average commitment rate for 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgages was 6.10 percent in December 2007, nearly unchanged from the 6.14 average rate during December of 2006.
Chiles, who has been frustrated by the persistent negative coverage by the national media toward the housing market, believes that the local consumer is starting to understand that the local real estate market is doing just fine. “To aid in this, CAAR recently launched a ‘Buy Now’ campaign geared toward educating the public about the many positive aspects of our local real estate market,” said Chiles.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 7:45 pm
More puffery from Pat Quinn!
Comment by Poolside @ Hotel Ibiza Thursday, Jan 24, 08 @ 8:08 pm
Market technicians define a correction as a drop of at least 10%.
Comment by Puzzled Friday, Jan 25, 08 @ 8:08 am