Patrick Joseph Quinn’s world was turned on its head on the morning of Dec. 9, 2008. Ever the outsider, Quinn has positioned himself as a populist, taking up the causes of regular folks. Self-righteous, street smart, tireless and a skilled organizer with a knack for bluntness, Quinn has been a stone in the shoe of […]
R. L. Nave
Posted inNews
Nuclear power group seeks answers to old questions
Before the first meeting of the Illinois Nuclear Power Issues Task Force got underway last week, a colleague handed state Sen. Michael Bond a stack of memoranda containing lists of questions. The memos were written in 1980, and the questions are still waiting for answers. Ever since the memoranda were written, officials have gone back […]
Posted inNews
FutureGen could be back on track
To help stimulate the economy, both in Illinois and nationwide, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin will ask president-elect Barack Obama to fast track a number of construction projects, including reviving the now-shelved 275-megawatt FutureGen coal gasification plant planned for Mattoon. Durbin, speaking at the Capitol recently, said an economic stimulus package, which became a centerpiece of […]
Posted inNews
Lend a hand
As they make the their annual push for charitable giving this holiday season, nonprofit organizations in the capital city urgently need cash as well as stuff: agencies that serve children are counting on donations of toys and games; those that provide housing require appliances, furniture and wall hangings to provide homey touches. In other words, […]
Posted inNews
The nuclear football
Illinois is the most nuclear state in the nation, leading the U.S. in number of reactors and producing one-tenth of the country’s nuclear energy. Forty-eight percent of Illinoisans’ electricity is generated by nuclear power (coal accounts for the other 50 percent). With energy issues inextricably tied to the economy and national security, Barack Obama pledged […]
Posted inNews
Street talk
Planners of the Illinois Medical District at Springfield wanted to create a space where people could work, shop and live. In order to build those new healthcare facilities, retail outlets and multifamily housing units called for in the district’s master plan changes would have to be made to how traffic moved. Now some of the […]
Posted inNews
Libri’s last stand?
In August 2005, former Republican Gov. George Ryan awaited trial on federal corruption charges, Democrats held almost every constitutional office in the state and a majority of seats in the legislature. Without the traditional goodies – namely, state jobs – to hand out in exchange for loyalty and hard work, nobody wanted to be chairman […]
Posted inNews
When it rains, it pours for the poor
Contrary to the belief of many in our society, poverty is not the result of laziness. Rather, a study published recently by the Heartland Alliance Mid-America Institute on Poverty finds that disability, job loss, earnings decline, having children, not finishing high school and living in a female-headed household are most likely to push to people […]
Posted inNews
Learning ability
A seven-month-long fight with Rochester School District has ended for Colleen and Bill Dracos, of Springfield, who sought special learning accommodations for their daughter who has a learning disability. The district has agreed to purchase a computer software program that helps students with reading skills and a speech therapist to work with the child during […]
Posted inNews
Kid Schock
In a flawless Saturday in Beardstown, Aaron Schock sprints to catch up with his parade float after falling behind to shake hands, slap five with little boys, pose for photographs, and hand out frozen miniature Snickers bars. Volunteers are decked out in crisp yellow-and-sky-blue T-shirts. The candidate himself sports a fresh periwinkle polo tucked neatly […]
Posted inNews
Plane talk
In the days since the first debate in which Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., discussed foreign policy, the economy, taxes, and earmarks, Illinois’ senior senator, Dick Durbin, has announced millions of dollars in federal funding for state projects. Durbin, the assistant majority leader in the Senate, secured $257 million from the departments […]
Posted inNews
Going on the record
Don Gray’s four-year-old no longer refers to him as daddy. “I’m now ‘Don Gray for Recorder,’”Gray says. He estimates he’s knocked on about 12,000 doors throughout the county and dropped about a dozen pounds and ruined a couple pairs of shoes in the process. But any advertising Gray can get — even word of mouth […]
