James Warren Leaves the Chicago Reader

I'm not sure how to greet the departure of James Warren from his position as Publisher of the Reader today. He was on my shitlist for the editorial he wrote for the Chicago News Cooperative, saying in essence that because there was other public corruption elsewhere, Chicago's press should overlook the corruption we have here. Not a great theory for an outsider newspaper to take.

So it's good that he took his one-man hobble off of the Reader, but sadly he has now hitched his integrity-free "give-em-a-pass" wagon to the New York Times. So now we have three bankrupt citywide newspapers, one run by Republicans, one small and shrinking, and the Sun-Times is just such a mess that many are predicting it won't exist for another full year. And the NYT's expanded coverage has as its figurehead a guy who says outright he thinks public corruption isn't serious here. Man, this is one messed up news landscape.

what's not to like about red light cameras??

seems like there are a lot of republicans these days trying to make an issue of red light cameras.

now, aren't they supposed to be the party of law and order?

or maybe they are just the party of law and order for others, while for them, they get to be the guys who are fine with wiretapping any citizen they choose to listen in on any day?

why don't they like to see the city getting revenue from cheaters?

don't they know how many accidents are caused by people running red lights? i always thought of them as the party of chickens, tho they pretend to be hawks.

i just don't get it. me, i love them. every time i see those lights flash, i cheer. i hate bad drivers. i want them off the road, or at least on the hook for plenty of fines.

so, can someone explain to me why this is an issue with anyone? or why this is an issue for republicans? seems like about as win-win government action as you could get.

Public Policy Job Available

This is not a joke.

Are you out of work, or looking for that next step in your career? Are you interested in public policy? Are you a people person? Are you a Democrat? If you answered yes to all or most of these questions, you may wish to consider applying for a job as Lieutenant Governor of Illinois. The position is currently open and the employer is currently accepting applications.

The lieutenant governor of Illinois handles a variety of responsibilities which have been delegated to the office via statute. These duties include serving as Chairman of the Governor's Rural Affairs Council, Chairman of Rural Bond Bank of Illinois, head of the Illinois Main Street Program, and Chairman of the Illinois River Coordinating Council.

In addition to these duties, the lieutenant governor can take on other duties as assigned by the governor or initiate duties of his or her own. An example of this is work by former Lt. Gov. Corrine Wood on women's health issues. The lieutenant governor also serves as a surrogate speaker for the governor around the state and as a representative for state government. The lieutenant governor is a member of the National Lieutenant Governors Association.

When the Governor of Illinois becomes unable to discharge the duties of that office, the lieutenant governor becomes acting governor. If the Governor dies, resigns or is removed from office, the lieutenant governor becomes governor. The current Governor of Illinois took the position through this mechanism, so there are opportunities for advancement.

If you are interested in applying, take the following steps:
1. Download this application (MS Word file)
2. Fill out the form completely
3. (Optional) You may include additional documents that you feel support your application. For example, other candidates have included a list of endorsements or supporters, a resume, or a personal biography.
4. Email your application to contact@ildems.com.

This job is somewhat unusual in that you can view the qualifications of the other applicants at the hiring organization's website. You can also research the hiring process and the people who will make the hiring decision; Gapers Block has tips on how to do that.

Terzakis Case Status

The criminal case against John Terzakis and Robert Estupinian is proceeding. Case number CR-09-01212-JF in the Northern District of California. The last status hearing was 2/25/2010, which Estupinian attended personally, but Terzakis was present only by counsel. The court deemed the case "complex," which means there will be more extensive procedures in place. The next hearing will be 4/15/2010 at 9:00 am.

Click here for all posts about Terzakis

it's nice to have money, i guess

you can make invisible things, you can make other people's things invisible, too. you can turn yourself into a puff of smoke, and a fine old story about the history of politics in chicago.

i have always thought that a lot of the stories about how things get done in this town were sort of fish stories. but i guess this fish was a big enough fish to eat the little fish.

Bill Halter Takes on a Blue Dog

For just over a year, we've watched President Obama kow-tow to conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats. Together, they have done more to advance the GOP's agenda than the GOP has - after all, we Democrats had 60 Senate votes but we lacked party loyalty. It's because of senators like Blanche Lincoln that single-payer healthcare was scuttled while Guantanamo still isn't closed.

But today we have good news: Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter is challenging Blanche Lincoln from the left for that senate seat she has been using to promote the GOP's agenda. Halter will have a tough road, campaigning against a sitting senator. But at worst he sends a strong message to treasonous quasi-Republicans like Blanche Lincoln and Ben Nelson that betraying core Democratic values is a treacherous path. Even Obama might sit up and take notice. Lincoln and the GOP are the same vote anyway, so we have nothing to lose and we have a lot to gain. Here's Halter's opening salvo:

Terzakis Update Thursday

The federal fraud trial against John Terzakis and Robert Estupinian is scheduled for a status hearing on Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 9:00 am. The case is before Judge Jeremy Fogel in US District Court, Northern District of California, Courtroom No. 3 - 5th Floor.


Click here for all posts about Terzakis

Madigoons?

Mike Madigan shuffles his buddies on and off the payroll as convenient. Who else can get a job like that?

Preview: Return of The Gordon

It's one year until the 2011 aldermanic elections, and look who's back! Don Gordon!

Yes, after an absence from public relevance of nearly three years, Don Gordon has returned to object to a construction project on Howard Avenue. Seems Don missed the attention he got in 2006 and 2007, and he wants the spotlight back again. The excuse of the moment is a proposal to construct a seven-story building where the Wisdom Bridge building was. As regular readers will recall, this is Eva McCann's building that was cited for building code violations and was about to go into foreclosure before it was taken over by the bank.

Says Gordon,

The site is within the Howard TIF. Does this mean that the building will have subsidized housing units? My concern here is that the area already has far too much concentration of subsidized housing and that any projects in this TIF area should not add to that number. Source / Read More

Actually, it's not in the TIF, and Rogers Park is not a concentration of poverty relative to other areas of the city like Lawndale or Englewood. And he should probably use a dictionary on those big words like "affect" and "deference." But then, Don Gordon never let facts or reference manuals get in the way of bad policy.

It would be nice if Gordon ran for alderman again. By my reading, he would rerun basically the same campaign and get crushed. More to come, I'm sure.