Remember last year when Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan warned that Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley would control the state’s agenda if Rod Blagojevich got elected? Well, Ryan may have been right. Last week SBC–the giant Texas-based company that swallowed up Ameritech a few years back and is now run by Bill Daley, the mayor’s […]
Opinion
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Your Turn 2-20-03
Credit due In last week’s paper, we mistakenly lopped off the name of Illinois Heritage, the magazine of the Illinois State Historical Society, which published the original version of Stacy Pratt McDermott’s article on Abraham Lincoln, divorce lawyer. Divorce is still bad Dear Illinois Times, As a lifelong resident of central Illinois who has […]
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The Floodgates
The Floodgates Democrats won’t let the budget stop a deluge of bills. Ten years in the minority frustrated Illinois Senate Democrats. They would sponsor bills that had passed the House with huge bipartisan majorities–and often significant public support–only to watch them quietly die in the Senate Rules Committee, which was controlled with an iron fist […]
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Your Turn 2-27-03
Lincoln Library Shortens Sundays Beginning March 2, the Lincoln Library at 326 S. Seventh will shorten its hours of operation on Sundays. The library will now open at 12:30 p.m. and close at 4 p.m. The new Sunday hours are a cost-cutting measure. Starting May 11, the library will be closed on Sundays for the […]
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Pat Quinn rendered speechless!
For more than 20 years Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn has proudly cast himself as a people’s advocate. He helped create the 150,000-member Citizens Utility Board, which has acted as a trusted consumer watchdog of the utility industry since 1983. Quinn has long raged against the political clout wielded by the company formerly known as Ameritech, […]
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Made men
At the end of primary election day on February 25, Mark Mahoney got some good news. He not only finished first among four candidates for alderman of Springfield City Council Ward 6, he got more votes than the other three candidates combined. Mahoney says his success was due to his simple promise to be a […]
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Your Turn 3-13-03
Heck no, he won’t go To the editor, Re: reviving the draft? [“First Draft: The battle to create universal national service has just started. Here’s how it can be won.” by Paul Glastris, March 6.] What are you guys, nuts or something? Now I don’t know what kind of dipstick Mr. Glastris is, but this […]
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Your Turn 5-8-03
Ahead of her time To the editor: Many thanks for Cinda Klickna’s fine retrospective on 1930s Springfield, gleaned from Lucy Williams’ remarkable diary [“The Lost City,” May 1]. The photos and the history revived plenty of memories and perhaps stirred new appreciation for Vachel Lindsay, the poet who gave our town a literary legacy despite […]
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Canned radio
A.J. Woodson knows how to say no. As a late-night deejay on WNNS-FM “Lite Rock 99,” he has received hundreds of phone calls over the years from listeners wanting to hear their favorite songs. If the song was on the station’s playlist, Woodson was happy to oblige. If it wasn’t, he wouldn’t. Or rather, couldn’t. […]
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Your Turn 3-6-03
Hindsight isn’t 90-90-90 Dear Illinois Times Editor: We commend the Illinois Times and journalist Pete Sherman for covering education-related topics in the article that appeared February 6 [“Dis-integration”]. In my discussion with Pete for that article, I mentioned that district representatives visited a 90-90-90 school in California. I’d like to take this opportunity to clarify […]
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The governor’s permanent campaign
Say what you want about Rod Blagojevich, he sticks like Super Glue to his top priorities. Unfortunately, his highest priority is running a permanent campaign. Pundits used to accuse Bill Clinton of the very same thing, but it worked for Clinton. Blagojevich undoubtedly figures he can ignore the grumbling of statehouse “insiders” and succeed with […]
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Your Turn 3-20-03
Correction In last week’s cover story [“Why Andy Won’t Die”], I should have said only one of Andy Sallenger’s surviving siblings now has a substance abuse problem. That sibling is in treatment to resolve the problem. Dusty Rhodes Would a draft have stopped the Iraq war? To the editor: A letter [March 13] argues against […]
