To a much better place.

Not long after my buddy and computer geekster Bill Dennis moves the rest of the archives over, this site will disappear.

Change is good. The new site is very good. Go check it out.

A looong meeting between Illinois GOP Chairman Andy McKenna and the five candidates for governor produced almost no results. Only Bill Brady and Judy Topinka agreed to abide by a good conduct code. And nobody was impressed that Topinka was beating them like a mule in the party's poll.

A GOP poll shows Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka with a commanding lead over her four potential Republican rivals, but the findings failed to nudge any of them from the race Friday.

In a bid to cull the herd of Republican gubernatorial wannabes, senior GOP leaders met privately in Chicago with the candidates and presented results of a party-commissioned poll, which had Topinka leading dairy magnate James Oberweis by a 39- to 12-percent margin.

The statewide survey of 400 voters taken Tuesday and Wednesday also found Topinka to be the only Republican in the field ahead of Gov. Blagojevich in a face-to-face matchup, leading by a 39- to 35-percent margin.

Buoyed by those results, Topinka has narrowed her search for a running mate to Rep. Jim Watson (R-Jacksonville) and Doug Whitley, head of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and member of former Gov. Jim Edgar's Cabinet.

After Topinka and Oberweis, other Republicans trailed far behind. The survey showed Sen. Steve Rauschenberger (R-Elgin) with 6 percent, businessman Ron Gidwitz with 3.5 percent and Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) with 3 percent.

I'll open comments on this Monday.

Comments are now off. Talk at you Monday.

Unlike this blog, Illinoize will be open for business all weekend, and the comments will be left on.

There were some very good posts today and late yesterday.

The Illinois Shadow is his/her usual best with a funny post about Judy Baar Topinka's new nickname. The Shadow doesn't like it.

Bill Dennis may have a big scoop about his local government.

Grand Old Partisan has a very well thought-out piece about the upcoming GOP primary. A must-read.

My personal favorite this week comes from President Nixon, who gives us a Top Ten list.

Governor's top ten upcoming initiatives

10. Placing a $1 million dollar bounty on Osama bin Laden's head.
9. Passing resolution stating, "Cold weather is not cool".
8. Proposing law requiring every professional sports team to have an Elvis night.
7. Initiating Illinois funny money with "In Rod We Trust" inscribed on it.
6. Running as a Republican so he can debate himself and still win.
5. Officially renaming Springfield "Do I really have to go thereville".
4. In an effort to boost foreign policy credentials, will activate the National Guard to invade Iowa
3. Outlawing Grandparents Day.
2. Rename Illinois, "Rezmar".
1. Indefinetly postpone the November 2006 General Election.

Tricky Dick is also asking for more suggestions.

There's a lot more. Sorry for those I missed. Hightail it over yonder and see for yourself.

Liberal banking heir Alexi Giannoulias will announce Sunday that he is running for state treasurer. Giannoulias will face slated candidate Paul Mangieri in the Democratic primary.

Word is some serious heavy-hitters are endorsing him. More later.

UPDATE: US Senator Barack Obama will reportedly be on hand Sunday to endorse Giannoulias.

Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., Alderman Dick Mell, Rep. John Fritchey and others will be there as well.

It's Friday, so let's do something offbeat.

Let's say you owned a tavern, and instead of naming sandwiches after prominent politicians, you decided to rename various drinks for them.

Have at it.

UPDATE: Well, that lasted longer than I thought it would. Comments closed. And I think it was one guy who did it.

My friend, I'm gonna hunt you down like a dog.

Here is the story where Jim Oberweis says he's not connected to George Ryan.

Here is the Chicago Tribune story about Oberweis' meeting with Ryan.

For the final piece of the puzzle, you have to subscribe to the Capitol Fax.

I mentioned this story in today's Capitol Fax.

It appears the gloves are coming off in the race for governor. On Wednesday Republican candidate Judy Baar Topinka announced she and the Republican Party plan to take out incumbent Rod Blagojevich and fix the state's fiscals mess. Now the governor says Topinka and the Republicans are to blame for that mess. [...]

"The Republicans that were in Springfield, that worked with George Ryan and allowed the worst fiscal crisis, I think they had their fair share of responsibility," Blagojevich said.

Governor Blagojevich said Illinois voters should remember that Judy Baar Topinka was the state treasurer, the keeper of the cash, when George Ryan was governor. So she's responsible in part for the multi-billion dollar budget deficit he inherited from Ryan. And her claims of fiscal expertise are disingenuous.

"We dealt with that fiscal crisis and we did in it a way that no one said was possible. We didn't ask the working people of our state to pay more in taxes. We held the line on taxes," Blagojevich said.

From the Rockford Register-Star.

When Stephen Mack Middle School started offering chef salads at lunch this year, they sold like hot cakes.

So much so, the school had to a hire another cafeteria worker to prepare them.

Pop sales at Stephen Mack and Rockton’s other public schools are down; students and teachers are buying more bottled water, sports drinks and juice.

Some principals are removing vending machines. In Rockford, cafeterias offer pieces of fresh fruit free of charge.

Local educators say they don’t need Gov. Rod Blagojevich to tell them to become more nutrition-conscious, and his latest proposal to ban junk-food sales in the state’s public schools lacks substance.

“Right now, there are bigger issues to deal with than whether or not we’re serving junk food in school,” Rockton Superintendent Jean Harezlak said.

“I’ll deal with that issue. Help me figure out how I’m going to replace roofs and mechanical heating and ventilation systems. That’s the kind of help I need from the people in Springfield.”

Junk food, video games and tattoos have been targeted so far by the governor. One can't help wonder what will be next.

Some of the actions taken yesterday by the IL Supreme Court:

•Upheld a 2001 law imposing a $120 million settlement on challenges to Illinois Bell’s rates for business services. [...]

•Upheld the conviction of a woman who argued her lawyer never should have stipulated that the substance found in her car was cocaine.

•Rejected the arguments of a mother who said the state’s child-welfare agency had no authority to cross the border to take custody of her newborn son at an Indiana hospital.

•Ruled prosecutors did not act improperly by calling a murder suspect’s actions “pure evil.” It also allowed use of the suspect’s confession, which was obtained during repeated interrogations over two days.

From yesterday.

llinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and St. Louis lawyer Ed Martin are slated to appear late this afternoon on CNN’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight’’ to discuss Illinois’ rule requiring pharmacies to fill emergency-contraception prescriptions.

The show runs from 5-6 p.m. Central time. Martin will join Dobbs in New York, while Blagojevich will be based in Chicago.

Martin is the lawyer representing the four Walgreen Co. pharmacists from the Metro East who were put on unpaid leave for refusing to fill such prescriptions. Martin also works for Americans United for Life, and is the Republican chairman for the St. Louis Election Board.

I'm curious how it went.

UPDATE: The transcript is up.

"To suggest that somehow pharmacists should be treated differently, would be to suggest for example, that when you go to your supermarket and the clerk is checking out your food, and that clerk may be a vegetarian, that when you check through the counter to pay your bill, he's checking the asparagus and the potatoes and the pasta, but when he gets to the ground sirloin, says: I'm sorry, I have a moral objection to meat, I'm not going to sell you the hamburger."

I have one big quibble with this piece from the Hotline Blog, which I'll discuss after the excerpt:

Two campaign sources tell the Hotline that it looks very likely that Tammy Duckworth (D), a triple amputee who sustained critical injuries as a Black Hawk pilot in the war in Iraq, will be running in the IL-06 race against state Sen. Peter Roskam (R). [...]

The district borders Emanuel's -- and he views this race as a key chance to pick up a seat that GOPer Henry Hyde has held since 1974. It also borders Speaker Dennis Hastert's (R) district, as well. Assuming Duckworth enters, this could easily be one of the most competitive and compelling House matchups -- a talented, aspiring Republican state senator against a genuine war hero -- with members of both parties' leadership right next door.

The district leans Republican, but it's clearly a swing district that Dems can pick up. Obama won easily here, and Bush only won with 53% of the vote in '04. Duckworth's policy views are largely a mystery. But she is likely to take a more favorable view of the war in Iraq than some of the current Dem leadership in the House.

As a guest of Sen. Dick Durbin for President Bush's 2005 State of the Union Address, she said: "Getting to see this ritual of democracy in person tonight is not only a fantastic experience, it really brings home what we were over in Iraq fighting for -- this country and the freedoms that go with it."

Duckworth can't talk about the war because she hasn't been released yet, but I don't think anyone should read too much into this yet. We'll know soon.

Bernie Schoenburg writes that the Senate Repubs are looking for a candidate against state Sen. Mike Jacobs.

The three GOP candidates for U.S. House from the 17th Congressional District have been approached by Illinois Senate Republican leaders to consider switching gears and running against state Sen. MIKE JACOBS, D-East Moline.

Jacobs was named to the seat to replace his father, former Sen. DENNY JACOBS, in February. [...]

“He’s in an appointed position,” said PATTY SCHUH, spokeswoman for Senate GOP Leader FRANK WATSON of Greenville. “And we do not have a shortage of candidates willing to take on Democrats across the state because no one likes the direction this state is going.”

Grand Old Partisan on the upcoming GOP primary.

David Morrison (of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform), writes about a new Connecticut law.

Jill Stanek is disappointed with Aaron Schock.

The Dude writes about JBT & GHR.

The Illinois Shadow (one of my faves) is back and posting at Illinoize!

And a whole lot more. Get yourselves over there.

How much benefit do you think there will be from Jim Edgar's chairmanship of Judy Baar Topinka's gubernatorial campaign? Explain.

UPDATE: Comments closed. Today has made me realize that I need to get my new website up and running. That way, I'll be able to ban certain words and phrases as well as ban certain idiots from posting and/or even accessing the site, as well as track them down much more easily so I can deal with them on a face-to-face basis.

Thanks for making me work after hours you handful of clowns. Very much appreciated and I'm soooo sure I will be much more amenable to your side of the argument now.

Not.

Also, if you don't like the way this site is edited, please, by all means, go somewhere else.

Last week, I saw a long comment thread over at IlliniPundit's blog that made me curious.

It seems that the website for SaveOurPensions.org was designed by one Edward Marshall, which also happens to be the name of a Senate Republican staffer. Was there a connection, a commenter wanted to know.

Save Our Pensions describes itself as "a growing coalition of pension system members, taxpayers and concerned legislators – legislators who voted against the pension raid – who are working for real and meaningful changes to protect future benefits and assure that future generations will not be driven into bankruptcy to pay for today’s excesses."

Among other things, the group has a petition demanding that the second year of the pension skim be halted.

The organization has sent out a ton of e-mails to university employees in the Champaign area, according to some of IlliniPundit's commenters.

A commenter claiming to be from Save Our Pensions wrote in IP"s comment section, "To date, over 1,000 individuals have taken the time to sign and return our petitions. We appreciate the many individuals who have gone to the trouble to do so." The commenter also admitted to sending thousands of unsolicited e-mails "to those who we feel will be interested." The commenter did not divulge where or how the organization obtained the e-mail addresses or its funding.

As it turns out, Save Our Pensions' Ed Marshall is also the Senate Republicans' Ed Marshall, according to a spokesperson for Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson. The spokesperson also confirmed that the SGOPs had given Save Our Pensions a little startup money, "maybe less than $100 for PO Box rental" out of campaign funds. The spokesperson denied that the organization was a "front group." The pension skim was passed without a single Republican vote in either chamber and the House and Senate Repubs have been complaining about it ever since.

Marshall also runs his own web consulting firm. I haven't been able to reach him yet, but maybe he'll see this and contact me to explain exactly how Save our Pensions is being funded and how its money is being spent and whether any of its culled lists are being shared or sold.

Stay tuned.

John Ruberry tells us that cult leader Fred Phelps is coming back to Illinois.

Mickey Segal gets ten years, Pat Hickey reports.

Dan Johnson-Weinberger muses about Judy Baar Topinka's announcement locale.

IllinoisPundit asks readers about JBT's abortion stance.

David Morrison (of Illinois Campaign for Political Reform) writes about politicos who owe campaign-related fines.

Jim Muir (Southern Illinoisan columnist and blogger) has some good advice for Judy.

And much, much more. Go see for yourself.

Should Barack Obama run for president in 2008, or should he wait? Why?

UPDATE: Comments closed.

Carol Marin has a different take than I did in today's Capitol Fax about Personal PAC and Planned Parenthood's Judy Baar Topinka press conference yesterday. Although it's pretty darned good.

...Planned Parenthood of Chicago and Personal PAC told reporters they had serious questions about whether Topinka is, in fact, pro-choice.

That question will no doubt surprise some people who thought that matter was already settled. After all, Topinka has for years been described in political circles and in the media as a Republican "moderate" who supports the Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision establishing a woman's right to choose. And in fact, she is. And does. But with notable exceptions. Topinka supports parental consent, opposes the so-called partial birth abortion and has voted for legislation that allows for spousal notification. [...]

Though he wasn't in the room, Gov. Blagojevich was a presence at Tuesday's news conference. [...]

...his dismal poll numbers mean that Blagojevich is going to have to do much more than tout his accomplishments. That clearly hasn't been enough so far for citizens in general or women in particular. And now that a woman has entered the 2006 governor's race, Blagojevich has to draw a clear distinction between himself and Topinka, who is the clear front-runner in a field of five Republicans. And one of the ways to do that is abortion.

Also, thanks to Carol for the mention in her column today.

Campaign websites.

I found this yesterday but can't remember which website pointed me there. Sorry for no hat tip.

This is a state politics open thread.

I always liked former state Rep. Monroe Flinn, who was perhaps best known near the end of his career as the man who would cut off lengthy and boring House floor debates by moving the previous question.

But he was much more than that. He was a director of the state's Constitutional Convention, and as the story linked below points out, JCAR still calls its annual report the "Flinn Report."

Former state Rep. Monroe Flinn died Tuesday at Anderson Hospital in this village near St. Louis. He was 87. [...]

Flinn, who served for 24 years in the Illinois House of Representatives, died from natural causes, the Belleville News-Democrat reported.

The Democrat, who retired in 1995, earned respect from members of both parties because of his honesty and loyalty to residents of his district, state Rep. Thomas Holbrook, D-Belleville, told the paper in a 2001 interview.

He kept in touch after his retirement, dropping by the Statehouse for visits. It was always good to see him and I'll miss him now that he's gone.

The funeral will be handled by Colonial Funeral Home in Cahokia. I'll post the info here later.

UPDATE: Sorry it took so long, but here is the funeral information.

Visitation 3-8 p.m. Thursday
Services 10 a.m Friday
Braun Colonial Funeral Home
3701 Falling Springs Road
Cahokia, Il 62206
618-332-6793

Dick Simpson writes an otherwise scathing commentary about how Rahm Emanuel should support Christine Cegelis for Congress, but lets drop these little bits:

Emanuel courted Army Major "Tammy" Duckworth to run as the Democratic candidate. He cynically believes that people will vote for her just because she is a wounded veteran of the Iraq War. She has no political platform and no indigenous campaign organization. She is still undergoing physical therapy for her war injuries and she had to get permission from the military to run. She will leave active duty on Dec. 1 to do so.

Apparently the campaign staff and cash would be helicoptered in from Washington because there has been no base built in the district even though nominating petitions are to be filed beginning Dec. 12. David Alexrod has been picked by Emanuel to run her public relations campaign locally.

Axelrod is on board? If they have the money for bigime media, Axelrod is one of the best and Cegelis is toast.

And, Dick, attacking a wounded war hero doesn't play all that well in Democratic primaries.

(Hat tip Austin Mayor)

More in tomorrow's Capitol Fax.

Background here.

Here is the story.

After a one-day bench trial, Ill. Rep. Patricia Bailey (D-Chicago) was convicted at around 4:45 p.m. Tuesday of charges she lied about her home address on several occasions leading up 2004 primary election.

Criminal Court Judge Diane Cannon found Bailey guilty of three counts of perjury and two counts of forgery; and not guilty of two separate counts of forgery, three counts of perjury and two counts of mutilation of election materials.

Those counts were split between three different false addresses she was accused of using on her candidacy papers in 2003 and while registering to vote in 2002.

Bailey, who was first elected in 2002 and reelected in 2004, is required by Illinois law to forfeit her office, and could be sentenced to serve up to 5 years in prison, according to Assistant Attorney General Vincenzo Chimera.
Probation is also an option for Cannon, when she sentences Bailey on Dec. 21.

UPDATE: Comments closed because some people can't act like reasonable adults. Really, people, do you think having your comments up for a few minutes before they're deleted makes any sort of impact?

From a press release:

DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett will be hosting a press conference TODAY, November 29 at 5:00 p.m. to announce the findings of the Grand Jury investigation regarding the murder of Jeanine Nicarico.

Further details will be discussed at the press conference.

Illinipundit analyzes the latest polling on the governor.

That they've not improved is indicative of a serious credibility problem - that voters and the media regard him and his accomplishments cynically, no matter how meritorious - that is going to be very, very hard to overcome.

Diane talks about the IHSA's attempt to achieve competitive balance in its high school sports tournament.

Jill Stanek discusses continuing controversy over the morning after pill.

And much, much more. Get over there.

First, read this:

Unable to get lawmakers to support a ban on junk food in schools, Gov. Rod Blagojevich is asking the Illinois State Board of Education to use its authority to bar the sale of soda and other unhealthy foods at elementary and middle schools.

"I believe that if we successfully implement a ban on junk food at elementary and middle schools, it will help build the case for a ban in high schools," the governor wrote to board members Monday in a letter obtained by The Associated Press. "So I'm asking you to help our most impressionable kids form good eating habits, and prove that schools are better off without junk food." [...]

In his letter to the state education board, Blagojevich wrote that he is sensitive to such concerns but believes the costs associated with selling junk food in schools outweigh the benefits. Jesse Ruiz, chairman of the state board of education, said he is inclined to support Blagojevich's proposal and noted that childhood obesity is a growing problem.

The Blagojevich administration focused its junk food ban on elementary and middle schools because a ban at the high school level would be less effective since high school students have more access to junk food elsewhere, Regenstein said. High schools also would lose revenue from vending machines, he said. [...]

Kathleen Dezio, spokeswoman for the American Beverage Association, said the industry adopted voluntary guidelines last summer that restrict what drinks are available in school vending machines.

Do you favor the governor's proposal? Why or why not?

Here is that new SurveyUSA poll I told you about in this morning's Capitol Fax.

Not good news for the governor. Not good news at all.

Read and discuss - and try to keep the "all polls are unreliable" crackpot remarks to yourself. Thanks.

The Sun-Times editorial board thinks that Attorney General Lisa Madigan should broker a deal to help Neil Bluhm's group take over the idle 10th casino license.

Though her office has initially indicated otherwise, there may be enough flexibility in the language of the Riverboat Gambling Act to allow the license to pass to another party through a negotiated settlement. Midwest Gaming & Entertainment, the last standing contender for the license, asserts strongly that that's the case. Headed by real estate magnate Neil Bluhm, Midwest Gaming says a settlement allowing it to build a casino in Des Plaines would provide five-year tax revenues of $1.1 billion. He's showing us the money.

Bluhm's outfit became a prime contender after Rosemont was effectively removed from the picture by Madigan, based on allegations of mob ties that put the northwest suburb "under a cloud of doubt and mistrust." Rosemont is now seeking restitution of the $45 million it claims it spent on a parking garage for the casino. Bluhm's lawyers and others believe that the garage issue can be resolved through bankruptcy court without impeding his plans under a settlement that could be reached in just a few months. [...]

With so much on the line for the state treasury, we think Madigan should exhaust all possibilities to broker an agreement.

The problem with this is pretty obvious. Bluhm was a huge contributor to AG Madigan's last campaign. The Rosemont people already believe that she shafted their boat to help Bluhm. If she negotiates an agreement to help a major campaign donor, she could be letting herself in for lots more criticism.

I'm still catching up on my reading and my blogging, but part of Bernie Schoenburg's latest column caught my eye.

Among GOP candidates for lieutenant governor is SANDY WEGMAN, the Kane County recorder of deeds. [...]

Wegman was in Springfield with her husband and consultant, ROD McCULLOCH of Westmont, just before McCulloch was charged in DuPage County with turning in petition sheets for a Milton Township candidate with fraudulent signatures. McCulloch denies he did anything wrong, and Wegman said he’s still consulting for her.

“He knows a lot of people,” Wegman said. “He’s making contacts for us that perhaps we wouldn’t be making otherwise. He’s been professional in handling that.”

“Everyone’s entitled to a trial,” she added. “In this country, you’re still innocent until proven guilty.”

This has been making the blog rounds for the past few days, but I've been away and haven't been able to write about it.

Sen. Barack Obama, already portrayed by the Washington press as the Senate equivalent of a rock star, has wowed his Democratic colleagues as well.

National Journal, a respected Washington weekly magazine covering politics and government, asked 101 members of Congress and 137 lobbyists, former government officials and other political insiders which politician has the greatest potential to become president in 20 years.

The answer: the 44-year-old freshman senator from Illinois.

Of the 89 Democrats who responded, 45 percent picked Obama, the Senate’s only black member, National Journal reported in its Nov. 11 edition. The second choice was “don’t know,” at 13 percent.

Some sample anonymous comments from poll respondents: “He’s a laser in a room of lamps,” and “He has the charisma and steady leadership qualities to make it to the White House.”

From the News-Gazette's political blogger, Tom Kacich:

At least four men have applied to succeed Jan Paul Miller as the U.S. attorney in the region that includes Champaign-Urbana and Danville. It also includes Springfield, which some believe is chock-full of political corruption but which yielded not a single official misconduct indictment during Miller's three-plus years here.

Among the four known candidates are two who would seem to have impeccable political connections: state Sen. Rick Winkel, R-Urbana, who has never been a state or federal prosecutor but has the support of three downstate congressman, and Darin LaHood, a 37-year-old assistant U.S. attorney in Las Vegas for the last four years and a former assistant state's attorney in Tazewell County who also is the son of U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood, a powerful congressman from Peoria and a close ally of Hastert's.

The other known candidates also have central Illinois roots and impressive prosecutorial backgrounds but their political bloodlines aren't as rich.

John Michelich, a senior trial attorney in the criminal division at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., grew up in Auburn, in Sangamon County, graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, and got a law degree from Drake University in Des Moines. He was an assistant state's attorney and a first assistant state's attorney in Sangamon County for more than 10 years, handling major felony cases and overseeing a staff of 17 lawyers.

Since 1988 he's worked for the Department of Justice and has worked in the child exploitation and obscenity section, the narcotic and dangerous drug section, and the criminal fraud section. He also was sent to The Hague to assist the Justice Department in investigating and prosecuting international humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia.
Michelich says he's handled more than 75 jury trials in the state and federal courts and has led federal grand jury investigations in more than 15 states. In 2002, former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft gave him his distinguished service award.

The fourth known candidate is Rodger Heaton, an assistant U.S. attorney in the central district of Illinois, who grew up in McLean County, attended the University of Illinois, earned a law degree from Indiana University and now lives in Rochester.
Heaton worked in the U.S. attorney's office in Springfield from 1990 to 2000, including a stint in the Office of the Independent Counsel, where he prosecuted former Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker and two business associates in a tax fraud case.

All the whining and gnashing of teeth by Tom Dart's supporters in the comments section here last week was obviously overblown. Dart was slated for Cook County sheriff today.

The endorsement of Tom Dart was wired from the get-go by his boss and neighbor in the 19th Ward on the Southwest Side -- Michael Sheahan. Sheahan started lining up support for Dart before last week's announcement that he's not running for re-election. Dart was also burning up the phone lines and that -- along with Sheahan's clout -- pretty much wiped out the competition. But it also infuriated black and Latino activists and four other candidates who showed up to pitch themselves Monday -- even if it was a done deal.

Andy Shaw's story also includes some very weird quotes.

"Sylvester Baker will be honest, fair, and inclusive," said Sylvester Baker, (D) Candidate for Sheriff. [...]

"I served as alderman for 16 years in this city of Chicago and didn't get indicted," said Robert Shaw, (D) Candidate for Sheriff. [...]

"I don't have anything personally against you, but you're just repulsive to me in regards to the fact that you say one thing and do another," said U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, (D) Chicago.

And this interesting tidbit at the bottom of the piece.

House speaker Michael Madigan didn't vote for or against Dart. He voted present but wouldn't say why. Speculation is he doesn't want competition for his daughter -- the attorney general -- if she ever runs for higher office

I'm only going to say this once, Dart people, behave or I'll shut down comments right away. No warnings tonight.

Rep. John Fritchey won't run for state treasurer. The decision was not unexpected. He has more info about his decision on his blog. Hopefully, he'll also cross-post that at Illinoize, where he is a contributing member.

UPDATE: Oops. He already did cross-post it at Illinoize.

I've started a new group blog called Illinoize. A boatload of bloggers, Capitol Fax commenters and others have been invited to post and several have already done so.

I started the new blog for a few reasons. Most of my readers are busy people and they just don't have time to read the dozens and dozens of Illinois blogs every day. Others are blog addicts who spend quite a bit of time surfing the Web looking for interesting stuff.

Illinoize will help both of those groups. Now you can surf one site to get an idea of what's going on elsewhere in the Illinois blogosphere.

Illinoize will also showcase some very good bloggers who ought to have more readers and perhaps encourage some of the better commenters here to start their own blogs. It's a win-win for everyone.

I'm hoping that Illinoize will essentially run itself. I don't have the time or the energy to do much more, so I wanted a place that was open and free and interesting, but requiring as little work on my part as possible.

Unlike almost all other group blogs on both the right and left, Illinoize has contributors from across the political spectrum, which I think should be much more interesting for readers.

I hope you'll give Illinoize a try. Thanks.

UPDATE: It also just occurred to me that some of the Illinoize bloggers will be exposed to large numbers of readers from a different viewpoint for the first time. Except for the occasional trolls, conservative blogs tend to attract conservative readers, and the same goes for liberal blogs.

With a cross-section of readers at Illinoize, these righties and lefties will have to be prepared to defend their positions, in some cases for the first time. It's already starting to happen over there and I think that's a very healthy thing.

Who do you think Judy Baar Topinka should choose as her running mate?

US Sen. Dick Durbin took a rare public swipe at Governor Blagojevich in an AP story.

When Gov. Rod Blagojevich gave his last State of the State address, he bragged that his personal lobbying and the help of U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert had produced an extra $490 million for Illinois' hospitals and nursing homes.

It was an unusual account coming from a governor who, according to members of Congress, rarely takes a personal role in lobbying or thanks the officials who work with him.

Unlike other Illinois governors of recent decades, Blagojevich's lobbying style does not include backslapping office visits and chatty phone calls. And the state's Washington office also has cut back its personal contacts.

"I would have to say Governor Blagojevich's style doesn't include that. It is rare for me to speak to him personally," said U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Springfield resident and the second-highest ranking Democrat in the Senate. "I still know what his priorities are in his administration and do my best to try to help him."

I wonder if the guv got the message.

If you haven't read the Tribune's Sunday story about the governor's PR machine, make sure you do so now.

With his re-election campaign looming, Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration has built an unprecedented image-shaping machine, sending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer-funded promotional letters to constituent groups, urging agency directors out into the field and grading the media's coverage of events. [...]

An administration effort this summer to use parole agents to distribute a letter from the governor to various constituency groups, extolling his work to track sex offenders, ignited strong protest from his allies in organized labor and the Democratic Party, who complained it came perilously close to forcing state workers to do political work for the governor. But the parole initiative was just the tip of the iceberg.

Documents obtained by the Tribune show that at least 32 "Dear Friend" letters came from the governor's office between July and August. The letters, signed by the governor and appearing on his official letterhead, discuss topics ranging from women's health care to a new law banning younger drivers from using cell phones. One letter, appearing with the signature of Patricia Blagojevich, the governor's wife, extols a new law exempting nursing mothers from jury duty. [...]

[In July], the Illinois Department of Public Health sent more than 340,000 letters and more than 70,000 e-mails to state recipients of health-care benefits, plus hospitals, doctors, hospices, chiropractors and other groups, the tracking form shows.

There's too much to excerpt. Make sure you read the whole thing. And notice this at the end.

By their standard, Blagojevich had an excellent month in August, according to copies of agency logs obtained by the Tribune. Their count showed that 942 stories were written or broadcast about key agencies under the governor's control. Of those, 906 were deemed "positive," nine as "negative" and 27 were "neutral." For July, the scorecard showed 725 positive, 27 negative and 75 neutral.

So much for the constant complaint that the media is ignoring his message. That's supposedly the reason they have to do all this extra PR work.

I wonder if they're rating individual reporters as well.

In a related story, the guv has spent $130,000 in taxpayer funds to videotape state events that he has attended, which brought this rebuke from the State Journal-Register:

It is a continuing problem with this administration. Rather than rely on the natural good publicity that flows from doing good deeds, Team Blagojevich is driven to prove the brilliance of its leader at every turn and at any cost. It comes across as needy and desperate.

Comments are off until Monday. Light to nonexistent posting until then unless something big breaks or I get a few minutes of free time.

If you're looking for Illinois stuff for the next few days, you might want to go here. I'll explain next week what that's all about.

By the way, I'm thankful for my subscribers and the readers of this blog. You're all tops in my book. Have a good one.

Buried at the end of this story about Republican gubernatorial debates was this little tidbit.

Although Blagojevich has not formally announced his intent to seek re-election, a spokesman for the governor said Monday that he fully expects Blagojevich to file his petitions before the Dec. 12 deadline.

"He's given me every indication that he will file," said Pete Giangreco, spokesman for Blagojevich's campaign committee.

No date has been set for when Blagojevich will make a formal announcement, he said.

"I don't expect one until January or February or at least not until after the State of the State address," Giangreco said.

The State of the State is January 18th.

According to this column in the Defender, Senate President Emil Jones was married in Las Vegas over the weekend.

"Word" from Las Vegas is that Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr. and Dr. Lorrie Stone were wed Saturday at high noon during a lovely garden ceremony at the exclusive MonteLargo Village on the shores of sparkling Lake Las Vegas. The one-of-a-kind posh, luxury resort 17 miles from the Vegas Strip is set amid Nevada's desert mountains. The Mediterranean-themed village, we're told, offers exquisite shopping and dining, golfing, European-style gaming, championship golf and lakeside recreation.

Congratulations, Senator!

(hat tip: AmyEAllen)

Also, while congrats may be in order, Jones' house was burgled while he was away. His car was also stolen but later recovered.

IDHS really needs to get its act together:

Personal information -- enough to make an identity thief's mouth water -- keeps turning up in an unlocked trash bin behind a state office in Belleville, according to a published report.

Records containing names, addresses, home phone numbers, birth dates and Social Security numbers were found in the trash behind an Illinois Department of Human Services office, the Belleville News-Democrat reported today.

The records were found Saturday and again Monday evening, after the newspaper informed the agency. The finds occurred more than six months after the newspaper began to fish personal information out of open trash bins at various state agencies.

Not sure I'd want to be assigned the task of fishing through trash bins, but it's a good story.

For what are you most thankful?

(By the way, posting will most likely be very light today.)