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* Where the poor are: “In 1999 large cities and their suburbs had nearly equal numbers of poor individuals, but by 2005 the suburban poor outnumbered their city counterparts by at least 1 million.”
* A little clarity about Doc Walls
According to Fire on the Prairie, the account of the Washington years by former Reader staff writer Gary Rivlin, Walls was a gofer: “the man who took care of the tab, for instance, when Washington and a few aides stopped off for lunch — and then handled his schedule for his first couple years in office. Washington grew frustrated with Walls’s propensity for passing himself off as more important than he was, and fired him in 1985.”
Here’s what Walls told Reader contributor Mick Dumke recently when asked about being fired by Washington: “At 25, I was considered one of the most influential people in the city. At 29, I was considered too influential. Everything flowed through me, and everyone was jealous. . . . I did my job too well.”
* Local 150 sues treasurer over land deal - Profit went to him, federal suit alleges
* Suburban businessman Gerard Kenny accused of dealing with mob, ordered to divest Casino Queen investment
* University of Ill. investigates threats against Native American student
* QT (which really ought to be made into a blog with links and comments):
Gov. Blagojevich regarding his re-election with 49.79 percent of the vote:
“I read the election as a mandate for action.”
Add mandates for action to the list of things that aren’t what they used to be.
* Editorial: State can’t afford 4 years of ‘activist government’
* SJ-R inauguration photo gallery
* Editorial: Legislature should take aim at assault weapon horrors
* Editorial: Election is over; it’s time to focus on the future
* Pain expected from county budget cuts
* Layoffs set as tax bill fails - DuPage poised to cut services, 40 workers
* Hunters are reminded of new regulations in effect for 2007 Late-Winter Season
* Mongo picked to lead newest suburban arena football team
* Flood of complaints about CTA puddles
*** UPDATE *** * The Riverside-Brookfield Landmark newspaper reports that Judy Baar Topinka plans to have another “estate sale,” this time in Springfield, once her office is formally closed. I’m told the sale will be this weekend at her old house. Details will come later, I suppose.
*** UPDATE 2 *** This has been a long time coming. Foreclosure has begun against the owners of a notorious Springfield hotel that owes the state millions of dollars.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jan 10, 07 @ 5:44 am
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a mandate?? concern for IL pension systems???
following up on Obama’s, The Audacity of Hope
Blago’s inagural address titled:
The Audacity of Big Lies
Comment by Sage Wednesday, Jan 10, 07 @ 7:53 am
And now we are going to hear a lot of dire predictions about the poor being unable to get medical care because Cook County Hospital
may have to cut back. But the truly poor have Medicaid and in Illinois all children have access to health insurance now. As affordable health care becomes increasingly universal , the need for free public hospitals decreases and all consumers, not just the middle and upper classes, have choices in their health care.
In addition, Cook County sits in a hospital corridor with two other major hospitals, Rush Pres St Luke’s and the University of Illinois, the latter supported by state dollars. Perhaps the budget cuts will force a more regionalized approach to care so all services are fully utilized.
Finally, Cook County Hospital is notorious for not bothering to charge middle class users or even check to see if they have insurance. Stories abound of patients offering their health insurance information and being told not to bother. Stories abound of uninsured middle class users with substantial assets not being charged at all. Too much work for the heavily politicized bureaucracy, which is a patronage pork farm. Maybe that will change and there will be some actual accountability to the Cook County taxpayers who support the hospital.
Comment by Cassandra Wednesday, Jan 10, 07 @ 12:04 pm
Hope the forclosure on Chez Cellini goes forward. He has looted the taxpayers of Illinois long enough. Speaker Madigan stated Cellini made $6 million just on the sale of his gaming license, but he could not make a payment on the hotel? Like to see this all aired out in court so all of Illinois, particularly those of you north of I-80, can see that, per capita, Cellini makes the thieves around Richard J. Daley look honest … .
Comment by Smitty Irving Wednesday, Jan 10, 07 @ 11:06 pm
Blagojevich has no mandate. He wasn’t able to achieve even a simple majority–that means, in reality, most people–the majority–voted against Blagojevich. How’s that a mandate?
Comment by Squideshi Thursday, Jan 11, 07 @ 12:50 pm
Sun-Times: blah, blah, blah. Show me hard proof that a so-called “assault weapon” ban will do anything more than make a bunch of grabbers happy.
Comment by Ken in Aurora Thursday, Jan 11, 07 @ 3:27 pm