The legislature convenes next month, and so Shiny Balloon Season is nearly upon us. As any first-year law school student knows, shiny balloons are pretty but insubstantial things floated to distract scrutiny from things that actually matter. This time, the new governor’s push for a progressive income tax threatens to be a giant shiny balloon […]
Upon Further Review
Posted inOpinion
Diocesan diddlers
I wonder about Virginia Galloway. In 2004, she sued the Diocese of Springfield, alleging an awful thing. In the late 1960s, when she was 10 years old, she said that the Rev. Richard Niebrugge took her under his care as a foster child and began sexually abusing her. A decade later, she said in her […]
Posted inOpinion
Another day, another circus
What a lot of blathering went on at a recent House tourism committee hearing called to chew fat about the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and its nonprofit foundation, which is threatening to sell Abe’s stuff unless the state writes a check. The Nov. 13 shindig gave lawmakers a chance to question big shots […]
Posted inOpinion
Keeping Tabs
Tab is an unmitigated bargain at the Macoupin County courthouse. Photo by Bruce Rushton You never know what you’ll find in a courthouse. I was reminded of this during a visit last week to the Macoupin County courthouse in Carlinville. It was, according to legend and the internet, the largest county courthouse outside New York […]
Posted inOpinion
A modest proposal for Jesse White
Years ago, I asked a fellow reporter who covers politics and government: Can you think of anything that the state does well? Issuing driver’s licenses was the only thing that came to mind. I’ve never had to wait more than 10 minutes. In Washington and Arizona, where I once lived, you immediately bought a Lotto […]
Posted inOpinion
Under new management
A new owner is running a landmark Springfield building. After a two-year battle for control of Wyndham Springfield City Centre, downtown Springfield’s tallest structure, owner Robert Egizii in September turned over the keys to U.S. Bank and an outfit called LNR Partners, LLC., the bank’s “special servicer,” as per Sangamon County Circuit Court records. It […]
Posted inOpinion
The lone ranger
Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy Travis Koester may soon need a tattoo removal specialist. Then again, Koester’s colleagues might be willing to do the job themselves, judging by an Illinois Labor Relations Board case that reveals deep animosity between the deputy and his fellow cops. The labor board last month ruled against Koester, who had claimed […]
Posted inOpinion
Hat trick
Here’s an ad we haven’t seen. “Hello, I’m Rodney Davis. In 2015, I voted for a $1.1 trillion budget bill that exceeded spending limits by $66 billion. Barack Obama called it a Christmas present for the American people. Donald Trump blasted Republicans for cooperating with Democrats, but I took that vote, regardless of political consequences, […]
Posted inOpinion
A rush to judgment?
Another troublesome email has surfaced between U.S. District Court Judge Colin Bruce and the U.S. attorney’s office headquartered in Springfield. Attorneys for Jason Gmoser, a convicted child pornographer sentenced to life in prison by Bruce in 2017, last week asked for a new trial based on an email the judge sent to a prosecutor in […]
Posted inOpinion
Willie Horton comes to Cass County
Enough about the Supreme Court. Let’s talk about judgeships closer to home, where things really matter. Luke Thomas, the Republican candidate to replace retiring Cass County Circuit Court Judge Robert Hardwick, Jr., has created a campaign video that features mug shots of Deon McDonald and Deandre Douglas. Featuring images of Jesus, assault rifles, Hanoi Jane […]
Posted inOpinion
School board blues
I have long believed that the death penalty is insufficient for the most egregious crimes. Don’t send rapists and murderers and former governors to the gurney. Instead, sentence them to attend school board meetings, where they can be strapped down in chairs and gagged so they can’t scream. Force their eyelids open with metal contraptions and station a […]
Posted inOpinion
A confederacy of dunces
Let’s consider how we came to once worship a hat that could have belonged to Abraham Lincoln – or Willy Wonka, or Slash, as some Twitterheads, including myself, have suggested. The year was 2007, and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation was drooling over a collection of Lincoln documents and artifacts, including a stovepipe hat […]
