Saturday, January 19, 2013
State government grows in the dark, like a fungus. • Bill Daley has an idea to take the party out of state elections. • Time magazine mourns for Illinois.
When Gov. Pat Quinn took office in 2009, he promised to take aim at state boards and commissions stocked with politically connected folks drawing large salaries with little oversight into their activities. He would pare down those panels and save you money. Better Government Association investigative reporter Barbara Rose this month looked into whether Quinn delivered: "... more than three years into Quinn’s watch little has changed, except the number of such units is growing. As troubling, many don’t comply with the Illinois Open Meetings Act, according to a report last year by state Auditor General William Holland." In fact, the governor's office is having a hard time keeping up with it all. "With over 322 boards and commissions, …
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Take the Patch Poll: Does Pat Quinn deserve re-election or would you put another Democrat on the ballot in 2014?
Pat Quinn is so unpopular, according to a recent Public Policy Polling survey, that Lisa Madigan and Bill Daley would easily beat him in a Democratic primary while Kirk Dillard and Dan Rutherford would topple him in the general election. Quinn says he's going to run for re-election in 2014, but as 2012 comes to an end only 25 percent of Illinois voters approve of the job he's doing as governor. Public Policy Polling says 64 percent of voters disapprove of Quinn's performance — "making him the most unpopular governor PPP has polled on anywhere in the country this year." And there seems to be good reason for that. Last week, 24/7 Wall St. published a ranking of all 50 states, and Illinois emerges as the third-worst-run state in America, …
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Durbin and Kirk support $150 million loan for SimpleHx • Few approve of Quinn • Convicts collect $2 million in unemployment • Poll: Biggert-Foster very close • State House candidate's domestic battery case dropped with scant attention.
One aspect of Obamacare is drawing bipartisan support — at least in Illinois. Democrat Dick Durbin and Republican Mark Kirk both back an outfit called SimpleHx, which wants a $150 million federal loan to establish the state's first health insurance co-op under the president's federal healthcare law. The people behind SimpleHx met at Northwestern University last year while pursuing their MBAs, according to Modern Healthcare reporter Kristen Schorsch. SimpleHx is competing against four proposals, including one backed by the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, a trade group founded in 1935 that represents more than 150 local hospitals and health care organizations. If the proposals are similar, in terms of promises to save money and …
Sunday, February 26, 2012
With state drowning in debt, the governor turns to the Internet for help.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
In the last hearing to be held on a plan to close the facility, concerned family members, hospital officials and state politicians expressed doubt and fear over the lack of alternatives to the Tinley Park Mental Health Center.
As of Tuesday morning, Nancy Jones' 42-year-old mentally ill son was out on the street. And there's really nothing she could do about it. "We're just in agony right now because we love him and we want to help him and there's no help," said the Shorewood resident Tuesday. "Nobody cares in this state. It's just heartbreaking for us." Jones was among several hundred people gathered in Orland Park Tuesday at a hearing on Gov. Pat Quinn's decision to close the Tinley Park Mental Health Center. READ: Public Hearing: Weigh in Next Week on Quinn's Plan to Close the Mental Health Center Many in attendence at the Georgios Banquets hall wore bright orange "Save the Tinley Park Mental Health Center" T-shirts. About 50 people from advocacy groups, …
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Gov. Quinn signed the DREAM Act to help pay education costs for documented and undocumented immigrants, alike, and give illegal immigrant students some protection against deportation.
Gov. Pat Quinn recently signed the Illinois DREAM Act, which supports a privately funded account to help children of legal and illegal immigrants finance college educations. The fund will rely entirely on private donation and not Illinois tax dollars. While the bill will not be a way for illegals to gain citizenship, it will provide some protection against deportation. Additionally, school officials will be encouraged to become well versed in educational and financial opportunities for these children. The state's two college tuition savings programs will also become available to those families with either a social security or state identification number. To qualify for a private college scholarship, students must have one immigrant parent…
Friday, August 26, 2011
Michele Findysz's son, Wally, suffered what was believed to be a concussion last season playing football at Chicago Christian. He returned to play, but only after passing a CT scan.
Nobody wants to see a high school football player hurt, and now more than ever, new safety precautions are taking the place of old concussion tests. Know this: It doesn’t cut it anymore for a fuzzy footballer to count raised fingers on the sideline and then get the OK to trot back onto the field. Gov. Pat Quinn recently signed legislation requiring Illinois student-athletes who leave a game with a concussion to be medically cleared before returning to practice or playing in future games. Quinn’s move put more teeth into similar action taken by the Illinois High School Association. The news might ease the anxiety felt by some moms on the sidelines. "I'm all for it," said football mom Michele Findysz. She describes her worries as typical. …
41.494923
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Lincoln-Way West High School
21701 Gougar Rd, New Lenox, IL
/articles/football-mom-throws-her-support-behind-new-concussion-law
1709505
/locations/5199075
Friday, August 5, 2011
Gov. Pat Quinn stopped at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Friday afternoon to sign a Senate bill that aims to help veterans who are also business owners.
When U.S. Army veteran Paul Dillon came back from Vietnam, nobody seemed to notice. "Now, it's a wonderful thing to see everybody caring," said the Tinley resident, who owns a Chicago-based consulting firm. "It's about time." Dillon was among a group of about 75 supporters gathered Friday afternoon at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2791 in Tinley Park, anxiously awaiting a visit from Gov. Pat Quinn. He signed Senate Bill 1270 at the event, which he said will help boost small businesses owned by Illinois veterans, like Dillon. Under the law, the state will set an annual goal of 3 percent of every state contract to be earmarked for businesses owned by servicemen. Those businesses must take in $75 million or less in annual gross sales, …
41.579263
-87.784519
Veterans of Foreign Wars
17147 Oak Park Ave, Tinley Park, IL
/articles/quinn-signs-bill-in-tinley-for-illinois-veteran-businesses
320389
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Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Gov. Pat Quinn signed the ban on the death penalty Wednesday, and in the process he commuted the death sentences of the 15 prisoners now on Death Row.
Updated March 9, 11:23 p.m. Former Oak Forest resident Paul Runge and 14 other prisoners currently on Illinois' Death Row will spend the rest of their lives in prison but will not die for their crimes. As he signed the ban on the death penalty in Illinois, Gov. Pat Quinn also commuted their sentences to natural life in prison, without possibility of parole or release. “There are no words in the English language, or any language, to ease your pain,” reads Quinn's quote in the Chicago Tribune. “I want to tell them, it’s impossible, I’m sure, to ever be healed. But we want to tell all of the family members, the family of Illinois … we want to be with you. You’re not alone in your grief.” Now 40, Paul Runge was sentenced to death in 2006 for …
George Pickett
10:50 am on Monday, January 28, 2013
I wonder if he kept the monney? more ›