Here’s a prediction: The 2006 Democratic nominee for governor of Illinois will be a liberal white dude from the North Side of Chicago. Another: It’ll probably be the incumbent, Gov. Rod Blagojevich. It wasn’t until Dec. 17 did Edwin Eisendrath, a proven fundraiser albeit relative unknown, enter the race, insanely late to do any real […]
R. L. Nave
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Closure
After Tuesday night’s meeting of the City Council, Ward 10 Ald. Bruce Strom’s smile was so wide, he nearly got his ears wet. The council finally approved an ordinance to ban all public smoking in Springfield by fall. The ban excludes hotel rooms, private cars, homes that do not contain daycare centers, nursing homes, stores […]
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Mercury rising again
Citing cost concerns and a potential shortfall for the upcoming flu season, the Illinois Department of Public Health filed for a 12-month exemption to the Mercury-Free Vaccine Act, passed last summer to limit the use of vaccines containing mercury. However, child-health-care advocates who lobbied for the bill’s passage are upset by what they believe was […]
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Feeling the heat
Even during the daylight hours of January, Christmas lights twinkle on some homes in Springfield’s Oak Ridge neighborhood. In one yard, a partial Nativity scene features Joseph and Mary, kneeling in prayer. The Christ child is conspicuously missing. All is understandably quiet here on a drizzly, cool weekday morning. No children play on backyard swing […]
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Moral issues
The Green Party of the United States called on Congress this week to begin impeachment procedures against President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. First, they’ll need to find a Green-friendly member of Congress willing to draft a resolution. Then, the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee would have to decide whether the allegations of […]
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Checks and balances
Top officials of the Village of Sherman admit that they made a mistake when they approved expenditures from a recent bond issue. On Tuesday, they attempted to rectify the error — but at least one critic is frustrated. The dispute involves $856,000 in expenditures from a recent tax-increment-financing bond approved by the village’s president, Frank […]
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Party crashers
It still ain’t easy being green. But with moderate Republican candidate Judy Baar Topinka within striking distance of well-financed incumbent Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the Illinois Green Party must feel pretty good about its chances of getting at least one of its members elected to statewide office. In the 2006 general election, the state Greens will […]
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Naming names
On Jan. 1, Illinois will abandon its practice of reporting HIV cases by code and instead adopt a name-based system like that used by many other states. Illinois Department of Public Health director Dr. Eric Whitaker announced the change in October, saying that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strongly urged states to […]
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Chopped down
In February, Garrison Group Inc. president Todd Smith unveiled a plan to develop a 3-acre high-end shopping center at the corner of South Grand and MacArthur avenues, where the vacant Esquire Theatre now stands. On Nov. 30, Kerasotes, the Springfield-based movie-theater chain that owns the site, declined to extend an option, in effect killing the […]
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A matter of conservation
The Illinois Civil Service Commission will meet in Chicago today, Dec. 15, to hear the final appeal of 11 former state natural-resources employees who claim they were unfairly laid off earlier this year. If successful, says Gary Leach, executive director of the Illinois Federation of Public Employees, a labor organization working on their behalf, the […]
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Thinking Green
Should the question arise as he campaigns downstate, the Rev. Dan Rodriguez-Schlorff plans to answer: “Yes, I identify as queer.” And young. Part Filipino. A minister. A venture capitalist. A former Republican. A Green Party member. It’s a good thing for Rodriguez-Schlorff that most of those qualities don’t necessarily count you out of an Illinois […]
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Primary concerns
Sam Cahnman, a Sangamon County Board member and Democratic candidate for the 99th House District, wants freer elections, but one local party leader and another candidate say that Cahnman is pushing a bad idea. Since late October, Cahnman has been collecting petition signatures to get a referendum on next spring’s ballot asking Springfield voters whether […]
