BET HE NEVER HAD A SLURPEE
Gov. Rod Blagojevich showed up last week on TV talking about I-CLEAR,
the snazzy new database that merges Chicago Police Department and Illinois State
Police crime info. Offering an example of how such a database could be used,
Blagojevich said an officer who stops a suspect in Chicago could use it to discover
that this guy had committed a crime at “a 7-Eleven just outside Springfield.”
Of course, if the governor spent any time at all in the capital city, he might
notice that while we have Huck’s, Hometown Pantry, Qik-n-EZ, and Road Ranger,
there are no 7-Elevens in, near or around Springfield. There are, however, more
than 150 of them in the Chicagoland area.
Gov, you gotta get out more!
OUR DOWNTOWN MOVER AND SHAKER
Tom Irwin, the impresario behind the ever-scintillating Night &
Day section of Illinois Times, was among 25 individuals and organizations
honored Tuesday by Downtown Springfield Inc. for their efforts to “renew and
revitalize” the city’s central business district.
A local musician, Irwin was recruited three years ago to do music listings
and a column by former IT editor Bill Furry. Irwin took charge of the
calendar section in 2002. He said he was surprised by the recognition: “It was
quite a thrill and an honor.”
Separately, DSI applauded architect Gyo Obata for his design of the Abraham
Lincoln Presidential Library. In turn, Obata applauded Springfield for keeping
“the flame of Abraham Lincoln alive.”
Then, the world-famous architect urged Springfieldians to “work on the idea
of making Springfield a more beautiful city.”
Obata is chairman of St. Louis-based Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum, one
of the world’s largest architectural, engineering and planning firms.
This article appears in Jan 15-21, 2004.
