According to Sanford J. Schmidt of The Telegraph, gubernatorial candidate Bob Schillerstrom failed to attract a large crowd at his Collinsville announcement for governor. The paper noted that only one reporter showed up on time to cover the event, and another showed up 30 minutes [...]
by Sam Pierce
Tomorrow we will be celebrating our nation's independence and reflecting on the blessings we have enjoyed thanks to the vision and efforts of our founding fathers. We may wonder what the founders would think of the state of our nation as it is in modern times. I imagine their hearts would break [...]
Time to pull out the Where’s Sarah? buttons again created by Alaska Republicans in the Legislature there:
[...]
Rumors are flying from various sources that the entire staff of the Illinois Republican Party has been given their walking papers as of July 31, 2009.
At this point it is just a rumor. We're following up with Party Leaders and will post any update we get.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Wallace has a poll up asking what's the most important issue facing our country. Scroll down to register your opinion. [...]
Before I get to the topic of this blog post, I just want to say that I was reading the letters to the editor in The News International in Rawalpindi (near Islamabad), Pakistan, and I was thrilled to discover their letters to the editor are so much like ours [...]
The Daily Herald has posted the following:
Democratic state Rep. Paul Froehlich of Schaumburg has announced he won't run for re-election next year.
Implying that another political opportunity may present itself either before or after the end of his current fourth term, Froehlich said he wants to' [...]
Sarah Palin is not only not seeking re-election, she's stepping down as governor of Alaska at the end of July. Tribune's Swamp says:
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is stepping down, announcing suddenly today will she pursue other means of having an impact in the public arena and [...]
It’s a small scandal, really – one you may have missed in the busy, pre-holiday week:
Cook County State’s Attorney’s investigators raided the home and office of Cook County regional school Supt. Charles Flowers Wednesday after auditors found that the office is nearly $1 million in debt and alleged that [...]
Illinois Review wanted to pass along a great idea for the thousands of Illinois taxpayers standing along the parade routes on the 4th of July: bring along your "Don't Tread on Me" flags and posters with anti-tax messages like "No More Taxes," "Don''t Tax Me, Bro!" or "Taxed Enough Already." Let them know' [...]
Hinsdale businessman Adam Andrzejewski is running in the 2010 Republican gubernatorial primary. Campaign materials tell us to pronounce the last name “And-G-F-Ski."
Easy enough. And probably not a problem for Illinois voters, who, after all, have elected a Blagojevich and a Giannoulias to statewide office in recent years.
But it’s" [...]
The nod goes to ABC for this one:
ABC News’ Kate Barrett Reports: Sarah Palin announced Friday that she will step down from her post as Alaska governor at the end of the month, and will not run for reelection.
In a press conference from her Wasilla [...]
Brilliant strategery from Joe Birkett. Usually you bury bad news on the afternoon of a holiday weekend.
Then again, maybe it does make sense.
Yo Joe—You are doing it wrong.
The vid is not embedding so you'll just have to go the Chicago Tonight video page and look for News Analysis with Eddie Aruza on July 2, 2009.by Mark Silva and updated
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is stepping down, announcing suddenly today that will she pursue other means of having an impact in the public arena, fueling speculation about her intentions for another bid for national office.
Palin will step down before her first term is [...]
Good stuff from the Sun-Times editorial board today:
In the House, a more modest temporary income tax increase failed, garnering only 42 of 70 Democratic votes. [House Speaker Michael] Madigan voted for it but did little else to get it passed. Historically, Madigan has been a fiscally conservative guy, so to an extent [...]
I keep getting e-mail from the Friends of Julie Hamos directing me to "Julie Hamos for Illinois," the campaign site for the North Shore Democratic State Representative.
What's she running for? Nowhere on the site does it say, and those who answer the phone at her campaign headquarters [...]
by Mark Silva
As U.S. military forces withdraw from the urban front lines of a six-year war in Iraq - and prepare to pull out of the country altogether by 2011 - Vice President Joe Biden said today in Baghdad that Americans "stand ready if asked and helpful'' to help" [...]
There are hundreds of United States flags on the lawn of Notre Dame College Prepatory High School in Niles, Illinois, this photograph captures only a few.
Put your mark on Uptown... literally! "Chicago Public Art Group artists and youth from Alternatives, Inc. are creating a bricolage (direct application mosaic) on both sides of the Foster Ave. underpass at Lake Shore Drive. This project is made possible by Alderman Mary Ann Smith. CPAG" [...]
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 2, 2009
WEEKEND GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FOR
FRIDAY, JULY 3, SATURDAY, JULY 4 AND SUNDAY, JULY 5, 2009
On Friday morning, the President will travel to Camp David. He will return to the White House on Saturday.
The White [...]
Even as we roll into a holiday, the corruption in Illinois doesn't stop. One of the many things wrong in Illinois is that there are too many elected offices, for instance, the position of Cook County Regional Superintendent. by Mark Silva
Retired Army Gen. Colin Powell, former secretary of state under the last President Bush and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff under the first President Bush, has faced unfriendly fire from within his own Republican Party about the purity of his GOP essence - endorsing President [...]
Reader Mike Carniello sent me a list several years ago of top summer songs of each year going back.
He maintained that by "using this list, you can pinpoint exactly when middle age kicked in" by identifying the first song on the list for which you can't kind of hum [...]
DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett announced yesterday that he is an candidate for Illinois Attorney General.CHAMPAIGN – Today Illinois citizen and activist John Bambenek began a petition drive to place a state constitutional amendment on the November 2010 general election ballot. Citing the frustration at the gridlock in Springfield and the chaos caused by massive cuts to social services spending, Bambenek believes that the time [...]
I really had to share this with you:
In response to speculation that the Schillerstom gubernatorial campaign may have inflated the number of people who watched his announcement live on the internet, campaign director Brad Hahn provided Illinois Review a report from their web team.
According to Hahn, "The total number comes from" [...]
Join The Kankakee Regional Chamber of Commerce and Americans for Prosperity for a town hall meeting where we will discuss keeping and creating jobs in Kankakee. In today's economic climate it is important to discuss initiatives that can stimulate job growth. The town hall forum will' [...]
by Mark Silva
The address queue for President Barack Obama's BlackBerry is one of the White House's better-kept secrets.
But the president now has allowed that at least one of his most faithful aides has his number: Joshua DuBois, a former associate pastor and an advisor to Obama in his Senate [...]
from the Wallace for U.S. Senate campaign:
CHICAGO – With an increasing pool of Democrats scrambling to jockey position to unseat the now scandal-ridden Roland Burris; many feel the time is ripe for a Republican to take back this historical seat. Dr. Eric Wallace is one of [...]
Conservative Brand blogger Eva Sorock says the people of 10th CD want a trial separation from their recently-divorced Congressman Mark Kirk. She writes "Boo hoo for Mr. Kirk" and explains:
Eric Elk, who was hired to “represent conservatives” on Congressman Kirk’s staff, is glumly reporting that both offices are beling [...]
Go away.
The former Tom Seay Salvation Army Center at Broadway and Sunnyside is officially on the market. We spotted a FOR SALE sign for the building & lot with a contact number of 312-297-7635. by Mark Silva and updated
From sole to soul: The American view of the Russian presidency has fabled moments in modern times: Ranging from Nikita Kruschev's fist- and shoe-pounding at the United Nations general assembly in 1960 to President George W. Bush's discovery of Vladimir Putin's "soul'' in 2001.
C.J. Summers has been attending meetings and doing good work on the Main Street Commons issue. Basically, some developers want to turn the former Walgreens at the corner of Bourland and West Main Street into a condominium project catering to Bradley students. In order to do the project as envisioned, [...]
by Mark Silva
Despite a roughly 10-point decline in public job-approval since the high start of his presidency in January, President Barack Obama is "arguably'' still enjoying a "honeymoon'' with the American public, the Gallup Poll's historical review suggests.
Obama, whose job ratings started in the high 60s, have dipped [...]
by Mark Silva
Despite a roughly 10-point decline in public job-approval since the high start of his presidency in January, President Barack Obama is "arguably'' still enjoying a "honeymoon'' with the American public, the Gallup Poll's historical review suggests.
Obama, whose job ratings started in the high 60s, have dipped [...]
It always bugs the Hell out of me when the government sends out official notices to the public in the form of Adobe PDF format. It’s just gets in the way of copy and paste and generally wastes my time. Still, this is all boilerplate stuff. Basically, there is a [...]
From my inbox:
Date: July 2, 2009
Released by: Alma Brown, Communications Manager, 494-8554
Subject: Road Closure
Turner Construction is planning to kick off the major portion of phase I for the Hamilton Boulevard reconstruction on Monday, July 6, 2009. Hamilton Blvd. will be closed to all traffic from the [...]
I got a huge chuckle out of this tidbit from Michael Miner in the Chicago Reader;
In my column in this week’s print edition, I mistakenly said the Tribune was paying Chicago Now bloggers $5 per 10,000 hits. I called that the equivalent of carfare.
I stand corrected: the Tribune’s [...]
The Peoria Journal Star’s Steve Tarter has an article about how the local Lester Donut’s chain has closed all but one of its stores, and is not selling anything at it’s lcat store, but is only giving donuts away one at a time.
First: I am sorry to see any [...]
A new-found friend of mine created the videos below. Kate Hathaway is a local musician who has mastered the Peruvian charango. Kate and her brother create music under the band name Hathaways. The first video features Kate the musician and the second features Kate the documentarist.
The documentary [...]
The title of this entry is from the Declaration of Independence.
But it resonates today in light of the United State’s occupation of Iraq: “He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.”
And this, from the same document:
He has kept [...]
Have you read the Declaration of Indepence recently? Do you remember the last time you read it? We owe it to ourselves to read these words again, thoughtfully, at least once a year. Happy 4th of July from Turning Left.
Enjoy this old blog [...]
To: Mary Schmich
From: Eric Zorn
Several times a year since June of 1998, we've been filling this space with a week's worth of jointly written columns, batting back and forth idle notions and weighty observations.
Though some readers have complained, many more have seemed to like the occasional break in format. [...]
The Delhi High Court issued a landmark ruling Thursday decriminalizing homosexuality, a move that could bring more freedom to millions of people in this deeply conservative nation.
The ruling said that treating relations between consenting adult homosexuals as a crime is a violation of basic [...]
Police shot and critically wounded a man in the West Side's Lawndale neighborhood Thursday night after shots were allegedly fired at officers.
About 9:30 p.m., police fired shots and struck someone in the 1900 block of South Christiana Avenue, according to Independent Police Review Authority [...]
They're signing big names. They're spending big money. They're making the moves just about everyone said they needed to make this off season to maintain the momentum for the Cup. The old man might be spinning in his grave, but Rocky is repairing the Wirtz' [...]
Ugly wreck (picture from WBBM780):I asked readers for help in preparing Mary’s introduction during the ceremonies, and here is the text of that speech:
Mary [...]
Someone sent us a link to an online album. You can see a bunch of pictures inside and outside of the Hall from last week:
Michael Jackson was born in Gary and spent the first ten years of his life in the Northwest Indiana steel town. His personal life was a series of disasters, and it's likely his bizarre behavior contributed to his drug use. Or was it the other way around? [...]
I wanted let current and potential users know about the new and improved specifications for the Blog Peoria Project. Our new host is a company called WPWebhost. We are using the “Buddy Plan,” which is designed for WordPress Multi-User sites that powers Blog Peoria.
There’s never been a better time [...]
Gotta read 
