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The last time we had a call for a Constitutional Convention was 1988. The Secretary of State at the time was Jim Edgar. I pulled the ballot page from our digital archives and found that the language contained far less, shall we say, commentary than the language on the current question. You can view it here.

* Report: Illinois needs more prison beds

* State says its $400,000 prison report is wrong

* Judge: IDOT suit can proceed

“This was not an argument on the merits of the complaint. This was a first step,” said Springfield attorney Don Craven, who is representing nine Springfield-area plaintiffs trying to stop the move.

* Rx for stress: A share of $3.2M

Three of those county employees receiving payouts even have some clout. Patricia White, Francisco Garcia and Mark Johnson’s names also showed up on the infamous clout list of Mayor Daley’s convicted patronage chief Robert Sorich.

* Statement from Todd Stroger

* List of who received what amount from settlement

* Cook County to start paying awards in illegal political hiring, promotions

One employee who lost her job in a departmental reorganization saw her duties shifted to a politically connected co-worker. The co-worker was supposed to be laid off due to 2007 budget cuts but stayed on after her personnel records were backdated to show a transfer instead of a layoff, according to Nowicki.

* The Outfit - Alive and Well?

Let’s see…

1. found in a trunk;
2. in Franklin Park;
3. shot and strangled;
4. missing from Melrose Park;
5. last name released a short while ago - sounded like “Sanes”

We’re going to go out on a limb here and say “low level Organized Crime figure.” We’d lay money on it, but our bookie hasn’t been returning our calls since… since… 13 September now that we look at our day planner.

* O’Hare runway opens in grand style

* Grant Park rose garden to get face lift with $1.25 million grant

* Elizabeth “Betty” McGeachin McKee remembered

“She was one of the ones who inspired people like myself to go on and do things,” says Carol Bease of Barrington, former executive director of the Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce. “It was people like her that you could tell really cared about the community.

* Friday Beer Blogging: Footwear Edition

posted by Kevin Fanning
Friday, Sep 26, 08 @ 9:25 am

Comments

Been a while since somebody got trunked. He was obviously meant to be found.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Sep 26, 08 @ 9:30 am
No one said the Outfit was dead. Its little crews are still out there doing what they can to profit. They’ve just largely been contained at the moment.

Comment by cermak_rd Friday, Sep 26, 08 @ 9:54 am
Looks like the post-trial management restructuring is still still having its kinks worked out.

Comment by Snidely Whiplash Friday, Sep 26, 08 @ 9:59 am
No, Illinois doesn’t need more prison beds. It needs a more enlightened approach to corrections, especially given the extraordinary disproportionality of minorities, especially African Americans, in the prison system. It costs money to provide food, shelter, medical care, educational and social services, and son on to
tens of thousands of people serving decades-long sentences. Lots of money.

Alas, under Emil/Blago, creative solutions will be
lacking. The qualifications for top level jobs in the state civil service under their administration are “campaign contributions,” or cronyism or personal friendship with powerful Democratic politicians. The correctional system should be staffed with people who can think intelligently about corrections, and most importantly, who are committed to reducing the use of incarceration as a correctional tool; incarceration is not designed to be an employment service for the use of pols and for the surrounding communities.

Well, of course, in Illinois, that’s just what it is.

Comment by Cassandra Friday, Sep 26, 08 @ 10:00 am
The language on the constitutional convention question deserves more media criticism. Quinn is 100% right. What’s next? Are the Democrats going to include a question at the top of the ballot asking, “Do you approve of John McCain beating up his wife?”

Politics is politics. But one point that separates the crooks from the non-crooks is that you do not mess with that sacred space inside the privacy of the polling booth, not between the citizen and his ballot. You count the votes fair, and you don’t screw with the questions.

Comment by ZC Friday, Sep 26, 08 @ 10:09 am
The outfit is about as dead as the Dem Machine.

Kevin, wipe that smile off your face and help Rich clear up the tears from his face.

Comment by Wumpus Friday, Sep 26, 08 @ 10:10 am
KFan—-where is that story about the Senate action on the lottery lease so the state can have a capital program???????
Blagoof, StatewideTom,The President, VandaliaFrank all want it. I am sure they passed the bill and you guys missed it.

Comment by EmptySuitParade Friday, Sep 26, 08 @ 10:18 am
Rich, the con con explanation is almost identical. The only difference is that one sentence explaining what happened last time. This is seriously ridiculous. Telling people the outcome of the last election isn’t biased.

Comment by blame Pat Friday, Sep 26, 08 @ 10:41 am
The pamphlet was well written and informative. Nice work, secretary white! Proponents of the boondoggle would rather not have the electorate well informed. That way they can play concon up as some kind of referendum on Rod. That won’t work if the public knows what is at stake and how much money would be wasted.

Comment by Bill Friday, Sep 26, 08 @ 10:52 am
==The pamphlet was well written and informative. Nice work, secretary white!==

Bill….really….I cant figure out if your a shill or a cheerleader.

Comment by Speaking At Will Friday, Sep 26, 08 @ 11:25 am
Speaking,
I’m just a citizen telling it like it really is.

Comment by Bill Friday, Sep 26, 08 @ 11:48 am
ZC,

McCain, to my knowledge, does not beat his wife. Therefore I see a vast difference between adding a sentence that tells something that’s factually true, and adding a dishonest statement.

In all honestly, how many citizens of IL are actually going to read the dang things? I’m guessing most voters are going to go into their booths and be like, hmm, what’s this question about a constitutional convention? Then they’ll flip a coin and vote.

Comment by cermak_rd Friday, Sep 26, 08 @ 12:45 pm
The language involved is “In 1988 the electors rejected the call for a constitutional convention, with 75% voting against calling a convention and 25% voting in favor of calling a convention.”

This is like asking an opinion poll of the electorate, and before asking them who they support, stating, “Currently 60% of the electorate say they support Candidate A. Do you support Candidate A or B?”

If you were Candidate B, should you just be quiet, and accept this as a fair measurement of the populace, because it (perhaps) includes a factually accurate statement? Or would you scream bloody murder about that poll’s accuracy, as a snapshot of the public’s true sentiments?

I agree that lots of Illinois citizens aren’t going to read the thing. They’re going to go in there and flip a coin. The opponents of a con-con are counting on that. That’s why they’ve put in such a biased question, which as noted, was not deemed necessary in 1988. Precisely because a lot of people aren’t going to be voting based on much info, make the question as slanted as possible, to guarantee the thing is killed.

I guess this is what makes politics, but to me, it strikes me as ridiculous to think this is anything but a biased question.

Lastly, I should note that I have not been terribly enthused or interested in the prospect of a con-con either way. But I don’t like seeing the democratic ballot abused, and this has convinced me (at least) that I will be voting for the thing in 2008.

Comment by ZC Friday, Sep 26, 08 @ 3:48 pm