It’s in the stars It’s official — there’s no love lost
between JUDY BAAR TOPINKA and ROD BLAGOJEVICH. Astrologically speaking, Blago, a Sagittarius, and Topinka, a
Capricorn, are a match made in hell. The Sagittarius, incumbent Democrat Blagojevich, is
easygoing, in no rush to work out state fiscal matters, whimsical, always
jumps headfirst into new things (say, expansive programs for children), and
is typically impatient. Meanwhile, Capricorn Topinka is detail-oriented and
passive, keeping newspaper fax machines busy all day but eschewing big
expenditures on television ads. The Sagittarius may see the Capricorn as too
responsible and will teach his partner — or, opponent, in this case
— to lighten up. The Capricorn may, during the course of a
gubernatorial campaign, accuse the Sagittarius of being reckless and
impulsive and can help him become well mannered.
Hope kept alive Representatives from the Illinois Coalition for Peace
and Justice last Friday marched into House Speaker MIKE MADIGAN’s offices in the
Capitol and in Chicago to deliver a petition supporting a bill sponsored by
state Rep. KAREN YARBROUGH, D-Maywood. Her resolution calls on Congress to impeach President
GEORGE W. BUSH. On
Monday, when the General Assembly adjourned, Yarbrough’s bill, House
Joint Resolution 125, hadn’t even been assigned to a committee. Yarbrough has said that she may bring the bill back
during the fall veto session, after the midterm elections. A measure
similar to Yarbrough’s has been introduced in the California General
Assembly, which meets year-round. Despite some signs that the Democratic
leadership may block it, sponsor PAUL KORETZ has said that his bill still may have a shot at
passing.
fire? I received a press release on Tuesday concerning an
award given to Springfield Ward 10 Ald. BRUCE
STROM by the Illinois Public Health
Association for his leadership in helping pass Springfield’s
city-wide smoking ban. Ordinarily, receiving such a communiqué
wouldn’t be a big deal, but the release was dated April 26 —
more than a week ago. Even more oddly, it came not from the IPHA but from
Strom’s home fax machine. Surely the IPHA has people to do this sort of thing.
Could this be to the 2007 Springfield mayoral race what the bombardment of
Fort Sumter was to the Civil War? Strom didn’t return a call seeking
comment Wednesday morning. However, where there’s smoke. . . .
This article appears in May 11-17, 2006.
