Archive for April, 2009
April 28th, 2009
State Sen. Dave Syverson sent me an e-mail that said Kurt Granberg’s pension deal is even better than what I described in an earlier post. Syverson said Granberg’s $111,000 plus pension will be compounded 3 percent a year for life. Syverson said a number of Rod Blagojevich’s friends benefited from the system.
Former state Sen. Carol Ronen quit midterm to take a job with the Blagojevich administration. She only lasted a few weeks before she quit to volunteer on Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. Her pension was based on the six-figure salary rather than her $70,000-something legislative salary.
Lawmakers and appointees get sweeter deals than average state workers. The only have to work one day — one –in a higher paying position to get a pension based on the higher salary.
Illinois needs pension reform. It should start by eliminating these kinds of sweet deals.
April 28th, 2009
Kurt Granberg was the head of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for three weeks. Despite being there barely long enough to warm a chair, the Pension Review Board voted 3-2 to allow him to earn a pension based on his DNR salary rather than his legislative salary.
Granberg will get a $111,716 annual pension. He would have still made a heft $73,000 if the board had voted the other way.
The vote was along party lines, with Democrats saying OK. Three members of the eight member board were missing.
Read the full story in the Mount Vernon Register-News HERE.
April 27th, 2009
Because it’s a question, I won’t post it here, but I’ll describe the photo and the circumstances.
The Janesville Gazette last week published a photo on page 1 of a murder suspect giving the one-finger salute. (You know which finger).
The man allegedly shot his ex-girlfriend six times in front of her 5-year-old son. The suspect then led police on a 20-mile chase that endangered other folks before he was stopped near the scene of the crime. Janesville doesn’t have a lot of murders and the editor said because of the bizarre nature of the crime and the recklessness the suspect displaced during the chase made the photo was even more newsworthy. It also was the only photo the paper had of the suspect.
I sent the photo to folks in the newsroom to see who thought it would be appropriate to run with it. The responses were mixed.
Multimedia specialist Billy Kulpa said: “Are we really saying we don’t want to run a photo of a middle finger because it’s offensiveness outweighs its news value?
“What do we tell the readers? ‘We managed to get one photo of the suspect - after a brutal homicide and a 20 mile police chase - but he was sticking his middle finger up, so we opted not to show it to you guys.’?
“Every one from second grade on up has seen a middle finger, folks.”
Senior copy assistant Kathi Edwards said: “There are many ways to express information. This man’s disregard for authority and the law can be expressed in the article, by stating that the suspect held his middle finger up or displayed an obscene gesture. The visual does not need to be expressed as a photo that kids would see or that rebellious individuals would just joke about.”
Assistant Managing Editor Chris Soprych said: “I’d run it. The photog got a shot of the suspect during the high speed chase. That’s remarkable. The photo would be more compelling if his face had an intense expression, but flipping the bird shows a lot about his personality and state of mind. The shot of the actual chase with the string of cars is visually more compelling so I’d run that as lead and the bird flipper as a secondary.
“The gesture isn’t obscene, what it implies is.”
Most of the readers who commented on the story on the Janesville Web site thought it was inappropriate to run the photo. The link doesn’t appear to be available any more.
What do you think? What would you say if the Register Star published a photo of a murder suspect flipping police the bird?
April 21st, 2009
Gov. Pat Quinn will be in Rockford at 4:30 p.m. Thursday to talk to the Rockford Register Star Editorial Board.
We plan to Web stream the meeting live on rrstar.com.
The state budget probably will be the hot topic. Quinn has proposed a tax increase, which many members of the Editorial Board oppose. The Editorial Board would like to see the state spend less money and reform the pension system that threatens to bankrupt the state unless it is dealt with.
Here’s a link to the gov’s budget proposal. Tell me what you think.
April 20th, 2009
I spent the last eight days in Texas where some folks are talking about seceding from the Union. Texans don’t seem as worried about the economy as we here in Illinois do.
With good reason. A report released while I was there said Texas is well positioned for the economic recovery. The state is ranked 10th in economic competitiveness, according to Rich States; Poor States: The American Legislative Exchange Council’s State’s Economic Competitive Index.
Illinois is in the bottom 10, at No. 44. You can read the report HERE.
Speaking of the Illinois economy… State Sen. Dave Syverson was here for a 1 hour 45-minute grilling by the editorial board.
Syverson was touting the Senate Republicans’ fiscal plan, which focuses on reforms meant to cut state spending. Pension reform and Medicaid reform are big subjects in the report. On Thursday, Gov. Pat Quinn will meet with the editorial board so we’ll get his take on the state budget. Quinn is proposing a hefty tax increase.
Syverson thinks the Republicans’ plan can either eliminate or reduce Quinn’s tax proposal.
Back to Texas. If you ever visit, I highly recommend the Fort Worth zoo. It was founded in 1909 and is the oldest zoo in Texas. It consistently ranks as one of the top zoos in the country.
April 8th, 2009
I want to congratulate the Winnebago County Clerk’s office and the Rockford Board of Elections for the smoothest election I’ve been involved with in my 29 plus years in Rockford.
They tabulated results quickly and made it easy for those of us who rely on results to write stories and editorials. In past elections, either one office or the other had some kind of glitch, but this year it was well done all the way.
Now to a couple of predictions I made. First, I thought voter turnout was only going to be 10 percent to 12 percent. I knew I was being overly pessimistic when the words left my mouth. Voter turnout was lower than the expected 45 percent to 50 percent. About 25 percent of registered voters cast a ballot yesterday.
Some have blamed apathy, but I wonder whether it’s because voters had a natural letdown after the historic November election.That election was barely over before candidates had to file for the February primary. The April general election seemed to arrive in no time.
My second prediction was that Larry Morrissey would be re-elected in a close race. I really missed on that one. I was probably unduly influenced by reading comments on our Web site, e-mail I get and some of my regular callers. Listening/reading to those folks, you would think that Morrissey would get nary a vote. It looks like I gave too much credit to the critics out there.
You always hear from people who have complaints. Very few people call if they think you’re doing something right. If you buy a product from a retailer and it works great, few folks would call or send a letter saying how wonderful the product is or how wonderful the service they received was. But, wow, if that product was flawed in any way, folks would let you know.
No more elections this year, but candidates will start circulating nominating petitions in August.
April 7th, 2009
That was me this morning. I was the ninth person to vote at my polling place. That was 6:30 a.m. so I think that’s too early to determine whether voter turnout will be good or bad. It’s a nice day outside, if a bit chilly, so weather shouldn’t keep folks home.
On our podcast I predicted 10 to 12 percent. I think I was being overly pessimistic after a bad day. Nancy Strain of the Rockford Board of Elections is predicting 45 percent to 50 percent. That seems overly optimistic.
April 1st, 2009
I’ve never smoked, but my dad did. He died of cancer 15 years ago much too young at 60.
I hate everything about smoking: the smell, the way the smoke clings to your clothes, etc. So you might think that I’d cheer efforts to raise cigarette taxes and discourage smokers. Not quite.
I do think smoking is bad for your health, but over the years I’ve known homeless and mentally ill people who had few pleasures in their lives: smoking was one of them.
Working downtown, you can imagine how many of those folks I run into regularly. They can’t afford much, but a cigarette is as important to them as their medications. Most of those who ask me for a hand out say they want to buy a pack of cigarettes. Others will sift through ashtrays to find a cigarette that was discarded before it was finished.
So when I read about raising the federal tax 62 cents and I read about proposals to raise the Illinois tax by a dollar, I can’t help but think of those who have nowhere to go and not much to do except for smoke a cigarette.
