March 24th, 2008
From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
The decision won’t have to be made for almost a year, if at all. But speculation already is rampant in Springfield about who Gov. Rod Blagojevich would appoint to fill Sen. Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat if Obama leaves it for the presidency (or vice-presidency) in January 2009.
Possibilities include U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Chicago, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, or state Sen. James Clayborne, D-Belleville, any of whom would maintain Illinois’ position as home to the nation’s only black senator.
Or he could turn to state Attorney General Lisa Madigan or state Comptroller Dan Hynes, on the premise that these are people Blagojevich wouldn’t mind sending to another time zone.
Blagojevich could even appoint himself.
If more influential Democrats continue to line up behind Obama and his opponent, Sen. Hillary Clinton to step aside, speculation like this will only increase and will move further from political bar banter and into the public domain.
Talk Back: If Obama’s seat is open after the November election, who would you like to see appointed to the U.S. Senate? Is it important for another African-American fill the seat?
January 10th, 2008
How many times have you been cut off by another car in traffic and been angry about it? And how much angrier do you get when you notice the erratic driver is talking on a cell phone?
Secretary of State Jesse White and a task force began preliminary discussions Wednesday about the threat these drivers pose on Illinois roads, and that talking eventually could lead to legislation.
My Gatehouse colleague down the hall, Meagan Sexton, wrote a story about the task force today, and she cites seven states that have a ban on hand-held cell phone usage. She also points out this scary number from the Illinois Department of Transportation:
In 2006, 1,277 traffic accidents in Illinois involved cell phones. Twenty-six of them were in Sangamon County.
I don’t have the numbers for Winnebago and Boone County, but I’ll track them down and update you.
Tell me what you think. Does using a cell phone while driving dangerous? If so, should state government be the one to deal with this problem or should each city decide? Any other thoughts?
By the way, I’m alone in the office today so expect today’s blog to be “In Chambers”-lite. Sort of a Diet Dr. Pepper — tastes almost like the real thing, but you’d probably rather
have the one with all the sugar next time. Don’t worry we should be back to full strength again by tomorrow or Monday.
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UPDATE X1:
From my Gatehouse colleague — 27 of Illinois’ 1,382 cell phone-related accidents occurred in Winnebago County in 2005. In 2006, Winnebago County accounted for 29 of the 1,277 related accidents.
There were no numbers readily available for Boone County.
