It has come to my attention that a local developer will be asking the Champaign City Council for development concessions on a local campustown development. While I appreciate developers investing in our community, I hope Council will take into serious consideration a few concerns of mine.
1) "Three-O-Nine" Green currently has [...]
(From Springfield, IL)
Get used to this folks. At one point people worked for living, now we vote for a living. At one point the government served us, now we serve the government.
Didn't see this coming...(yes we did)
According to the proposed tax levy, the bulk of the property taxes —' [...]
I came across a great tool for understanding deficits. It ends up that Illinois can boast that there are 8 states who have worse deficits when you measure the deficit per capita. Click on the 'values' button below the graph and it will sort in order of deficit per [...]
Are you a fan of special interests eliminating competition via legislation?
If the service you provide is essentially a commodity, how do you promote your value proposition?
If you want some pointers, you should take a look at latest and greatest from the wonderful world of realtors, where every market is different.
Since [...]
My name is Brenda Employer and I own a small business that currently employs 20 people.
My business is such that I can setup shop pretty much anywhere. We've launched successfully, but now I'm looking for a place to call home for the long-term.
We've had a breakthough in the company and' [...]
What a beautiful day to work outside! It seems like it had been raining 40 work days and 40 nights until this break in good weather. That certainly hurts construction progress.
Now that we have some good weather, we should be heading down the final stretch and completing the long-awaited sidewalk [...]
This ordinance was so bad as drafted, that it apparently needed a second look:
November 19 Commentary in News Gazette.
Ideally, Prussing would have the people most able to help her craft a good ordinance working with her to solve the problem, instead of spending their time and energy having to fight her unreasonable notion of good [...]
I've been taken back the story coming out Chicago about the McCormick Place losing business. Intitially, I didn't think to take a second look.
Link 1:ABC News Story that has some interesting analysis both in the video footage and supporting written analysis/links.
One at the recently departed Health Care Information [...]
The Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) is on strike at UI. The N-G has a story at [www.news-gazette.com] . The GEO's website with their perspective is at [www.uigeo.org] . Out-of-state tuition waivers are a big issue, and there may also be a possibility of raising the minimum assistantship necessary' [...]
Impressed. Kudos to the N-G for the great series of articles on the Research Park.
Jury Still Out on Research Park
How UofI Park Compares with Midwest
I always thought the Research Park was a solid idea but now I have mixed emotions. I liked the [...]
Illinois made another Who's Who list: [www.dailyfinance.com]
"Many of the states, like California, New Jersey and Illinois, have a long history of borrowing to close budget gaps."
I love it when we send professional politicians and professional government types to run state business.
I wonder who Senator Frerichs is going to suggest' [...]
I had a discussion today with someone that claims that a landlord in Urbana cannot ban a guest even if that guest is criminal or engages in criminal or nuisance behavior on their property.
Apparently, when you call the Urbana police, they will tell the individual that they will not enforce [...]
This story on the expected revival of the chronic criminal nuisance ordinance was in yesterday's NG, but I didn't see it until last night. There are two statements in here that are headscratchers - the first is from the Mayor:
"I think the general public understands that there is a' [...]
I recently ate at a restaurant where the tab was $500 for two people. $115/plate + a bottle champagne and other drinks adds up pretty quickly in Chicago. You have to go up to Chicago to waste that kind of money. But why does it have to be that way?! [...]
We are now down to two GOP candidates for Country Board District 1. Per the NG, Gary Maxwell has withdrawn, and endorsed Stephanie Holderfield. She will face Chris Doenitz, the GOP incumbent.
This will be an interesting race, and could come down to door-to-door, get out the vote, politics.
This weekend I enjoyed unseasonably warm and beautiful weather.
The Illini won.
Today I recieved the below email from a Chamber friend.
I called this friend and found out that the Chamber has been working proactively to fight another silly Urbana idea. I learned they even had all the city council members to [...]
Palazzolo indicted:
The former executive director of the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District has been indicted by a Champaign County grand jury on seven felony counts stemming from his behavior while in office in 2006 and 2007.
State's Attorney Julia Rietz was attending a conference Friday and could not be reached for [...]
The Federal Lord Judge has finally signed off on the negotiated end to the Consent Decree.
The Champaign school district’s consent decree case is officially over.
Federal District Court Judge Joe Billy McDade entered an order Wednesday afternoon approving the proposed settlement agreement reached by the school district and the [...]
There is water at the bottom of the ocean:
A rural Paris woman who has been an assistant to Gov. Pat Quinn for six years has suddenly resigned from her position as Quinn's deputy chief of staff.
Carolyn Brown Hodge, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, resigned from the governor's staff Friday [...]
I was going to do a filing roundup, but Tom Kacich already did. Most notable is that no Republican filed to run against Sen. Mike Frerichs in the 52nd District.
Although Danville Republican Al Reynolds said last month that he intended to run for the 52nd District state Senate seat, [...]
The NG asked many of the questions that commenters on here were asking last week:
The details – such as how long payments in lieu of taxes would continue – haven't been determined. But Carle has a long track record of doing right by the community, Leonard and Wellman said.
"We' [...]
This will be our area's first contested open House seat since the 2001 redistricting.
Veteran Danville Alderman Michael Puhr on Friday filed petitions to run as a Democrat for state representative in the 104th House District....
Puhr, 54, has been an alderman since 2001. He ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2003. [...]
Monday, November 2, 2009.
Today is the last day to file nominating petitions for the February 2, 2010 Primary Election.
[...]From an op-ed by State Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago):
You would think that Chicago teachers, Mayor Richard Daley, churches and elected officials would care enough to work together to improve the system. But instead, the Chicago Teachers Union has figured out a way for teachers to not be evaluated on [...]
The Champaign school district needs to cut $2 million from its budget for each of the next two years, says its chief financial officer, Gene Logas.
Logas talked to school board members at a Monday night study session about his predictions for the district's finances for the next two [...]
I can't wait to see what Rex has to say about this:
Earlier, as Prussing was being challenged for a second term as mayor, her supporters wrote letters to the editor, bragging about Urbana's unusually vibrant economy.
"Urbana's financial scene is healthy enough it's been able to withstand the blow of [...]
Reliable sources tell me that today, the City of Champaign will release information about their "new" use of force policy, and will claim that the policy hasn't been substantially changed, was changed for accreditation purposes, and is nearly identical to the use of force policies used by the Urbana and' [...]
My wife says she remembers something about this being in the NG, but I don't:
In a meeting with Carle Foundation Hospital administrators late last year, Dr. Stratton demanded that they take action. She cited an outside audit that had found “major deficiencies” in 12 of 29 experiments being overseen' [...]
I haven't seen the decision, but here is a description of a 5th Circuit decision allowing Katrina victims to sue oil companies and other villians for contributing to global warming which worsened Katrina which ruined their lives. I can only assume the oil companies were working in concert with George' [...]
The long process moves forward:
Carle Foundation Hospital has offered to purchase Carle Clinic and its subsidiary, Health Alliance Medical Plans, for $250 million, according to documents filed with the state this week.
And if the deal is approved, a significant barrier to medical care now faced by needy and uninsured [...]
In the aftermath of last night's standing-room only crowd at the Champaign City Council meeting:
Speakers chide police at Champaign Council meeting:
Dozens of voices cried for changes by the Champaign City Council on Tuesday night in the wake of the Oct. 9 fatal shooting of a 15-year-old boy.
Many people attending' [...]
I'm looking forward to listening in on Jim Turpin tomorrow at 10am. Brenden McGinty and Alan Nudo will be discussing possible reform on the Champaign County Board.
I can't imagine how removing power from the voters is good, even though the past two Auditors have marginalized the office of Champaign County [...]
In the least surprising development ever, UIUC Chancellor Richard Herman has resigned.
Speculation about Herman's future has been rampant since White announced Sept. 23 he would step down at the end of December. Former UI President Stanley Ikenberry will serve as interim president until a permanent replacement is found, likely' [...]
Today's News-Gazette:
Expecting a large crowd, city officials trimmed their agenda for the city council meeting Tuesday night.
Mayor Jerry Schweighart said the city expects people will come to the council meeting to talk about a shooting Oct. 9 that involved Police Chief R.T. Finney and Officer Daniel Norbits.
The' [...]
News-Gazette front page on Sunday.
I found this article extremely interesting. Kudos to the N-G for writing this article and I will be making it a point to patronize one of their advertisers this week (and tell the manager that I saw their ad in the N-G).
I'm really disappointed with' [...]
Three stories from the NG:
More questions, few answers in Champaign death
"Everybody is edgy. There are more questions than there are answers," said Champaign County NAACP President Jerome Chambers. "How do we stop our black boys from dying where the authorities are the ones in question?"
Activist Terry Townsend said relations [...]
Former Governor Jim Edgar today endorsed Sen. Kirk Dillard, his former Chief of Staff, in the race for Governor:
"I am proud to endorse Kirk Dillard for governor because his experience and leadership will help steer our state through its current budget and ethical crisis," Edgar said at news [...]
Monday, October 12, 2009. For those of you who have today as a holiday, enjoy it.
Blogging may be a little light today, as another project is going to be keeping me busy until the afternoon. :-)
Under a tentative plan, every one of the 27 county board members would be expected to attend the three meetings – committee-of-the-whole sessions on the first and second Tuesdays of the month and a full board meeting on the third Thursday.
One reason for the switch is to streamline' [...]
Champaign County Clerk Mark Shelden has been blogging like crazy over at his official blog, on issues affecting the clerk's office and our local election like universal registration. If you're an election processes junkie like me, just go here and start reading.
Today, he discusses:
Just how long is too [...]
Urbana Democrat Tom Betz reverses course and now seems open to supporting the concept of reducing the size of the County Board.
[I]n a memo to members of the county board's policy committee – which will discuss the proposal at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Brookens Administrative Center – Betz' [...]
Republican leaders are striking out in their recruiting efforts in the 52nd District, which includes nearly all of Vermilion County and most of Champaign County, including Champaign, Danville and Urbana.
"We continue to talk to folks," Champaign County Republican Chairman Jason Barickman said. "I'm still optimistic that we're [...]
I have not decided who I am going to support for the Governor's race. One thing I will say (again) is how impressed I am with Dan Proft. If I had to vote today, it would be for him.
Wow! (Listen to what the second gentleman says)
I took a look [...]
IlliniPundit, Joan Dykstra, B is for Business, redstatewannabe, wayward
