Thursday, May 9, 2013
Governor Pat Quinn has been touring affected counties and said that the results of the assessments will be used to request federal aid.
Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and local governing bodies began assessing flood damage in DuPage County (as well as in Cook and Lake counties) this week, according to a press release from the Illinois Government News Network. The assessments are critical to attempts to secure federal government aid for counties affected by the mid-April floods, including grants and low-interest loans for individuals, and such loans for businesses, affected by the rising waters. Next week, assessors will begin discussions with local governments as well, which are eligible for up to 75 percent aid for flood-related expenses. “These …
If the request is approved, residents could apply for grants and federal loans to recover from last month's flooding.
- GOVERNMENT
-
Thursday, May 9
Governor Pat Quinn today asked President Barack Obama to declare 11 Illinois counties major disaster areas following the storms and heavy rainfall that moved through the state in mid-April, including DuPage County. If the governor’s request is approved, residents in the affected counties will be eligible to apply for grants and low-interest federal loans to help recover from the flooding, according to a news release from Quinn's office. Counties included in the request are Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Fulton, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, McHenry and Will. “We must do everything possible to help families impacted by this historic flooding as they rebuild their lives,” Quinn said in a statement. “Today we are making a strong case to …
Thursday, April 11, 2013
The Chicago Tribune reported this week Gov. Quinn is looking for ways to tighten Illinois' impending conceal carry law.
Gov. Pat Quinn said earlier this week he thinks Illinois communities should be able to exert some local control when it comes to a state conceal carry gun law, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune. The state is working to create a concealed carry law by the June 9 deadline. A federal court ruled late last year that Illinois’ ban on conceal carry was unconstitutional. "I am not excited about this at all," the Tribune reported Quinn as saying. "If this has to happen, it has to have the proper restrictions and limitations... I think we should make sure it's very tight and I think local communities, wherever they are, should have the option to make it as tight as possible in their community." Quinn also has stated his opposition to …
Monday, April 1, 2013
The governor signed 87 orders of pardon and expungement on Friday, freeing and/or granting clemency to six persons convicted in DuPage courts.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn handled 222 clemency petitions on Friday that go back to 2005, granting 87 and denying 135, in the process clearing six persons convicted in DuPage courts as long ago as 1988. According to the Peoria Journal-Star, Quinn’s office says he is committed to working through a backlog of over 2,500 cases accumulated during the tenure of the now-jailed ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich; he has granted 929 and denied 1,530 since taking office, his staff told the paper. The pardons for convictions in DuPage County went to: One of the most significant pardons, the Journal-Star reported, was of Peggy Jo Jackson, 57, who was convicted of murdering her husband in 1986 despite attorneys saying that she suffered horrible domestic abuse from…
Sunday, February 10, 2013
On Feb. 19 and Feb. 22, the state will stage public hearings to discuss a new concealed carry handgun law for Illinois.
Gun control hearings will convene before an Illinois House committee later this month, says Speaker Mike Madigan, and there will be much talk about a new concealed carry law. One hearing will take place in Chicago on Feb. 22, at the Michael A. Bilandic Building in Chicago. The other will be in Springfield on Feb. 19 at the Capitol. “In light of events in recent months in Illinois and in other parts of the country, it’s appropriate and necessary that we give a full vetting to proposed state legislation on this matter," reads a statement from Madigan. "These hearings will provide an opportunity for gun-safety advocates, gun-rights supporters and members of the law enforcement community to offer their views and argue their cases to …
Tuesday, January 22, 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.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Governor Pat Quinn meets with area legislators to discuss pension reform, with hopes for action by Jan. 9.
Governor Pat Quinn on Friday met with DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin and other Republican legislators to push for pension reform by Jan. 9, the end of the current legislative session. “Every day that urgently needed action on pension reform is delayed, the problem gets worse," Governor Quinn said in a statement. "As elected leaders, we have a responsibility to put politics aside and enact a solution that prevents skyrocketing pension costs from squeezing out core services like education, public safety and health care. We can do that now and we should not wait another day." Sign up for the Wheaton Patch daily email newsletter. Without pension reform, the unfunded liability grows by $17.1 million every day, according to a press …
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Jim Edgar tells Reboot Illinois that tax hikes, program cuts and leadership are desperately needed in Springfield. And Pat Quinn brings you Squeezy the Python.
With Democrats now holding a supermajority in the Illinois House and Senate as well as the governor's office, one might suppose a Democratic agenda would be a slam dunk in Springfield. As recent years have shown, however, single-party control doesn't guarantee the wheels of government grind smoothly. And former Gov. Jim Edgar, who served from 1991 to 1999, suggests that probably won't change anytime soon. In a wide-ranging interview with the new website Reboot Illinois, Edgar says Springfield is less dysfunctional when the two parties share power. "More times than not I think split government works pretty well. The reason is to make the tough decisions you need both parties. It’s hard to get one party to put up all the votes and take all …
Monday, February 6, 2012
The following is a release from Chris Hage.
- ELECTIONS
-
Monday, February 6, 2012
The following is a release from Chris Hage, responding to Gov. Pat Quinn's State of the State address: "Yesterday's address by the Governor should come as no surprise. Thanks to the leadership of democrats like Mike Madigan and Pat Quinn, our state continues to add to our debt without a common sense plan to cut spending. In last year's address, the governor spoke about the need for budget stability but just this past week, the Civic Federation projected that our state will owe more than we take in revenues in just 5 years. Although he suggested increasing the child tax credit for some tax relief, half baked measures are not enough. Even more troubling, Democrats are now hinting that when the time comes, they will push to make the Quinn tax…
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Gov. Pat Quinn signs bill pushed by County Chairman Dan Cronin.
With the stroke of the governor’s pen, DuPage County’s oversight powers of appointed boards, agencies and commissions grew some teeth. On Wednesday Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation granting counties with populations between 300,000 and two million to pass ordinances requiring units of local government to provide budget and financial information to the county board. It was legislation pushed by DuPage County Chairman Dan Cronin following financial scandals involving the DuPage Water Commission and the DuPage Housing Authority. Both organizations misspent millions of tax dollars. Federal audits revealed the DuPage Housing Authority failed to account for more than $10 million, while the DuPage Water Commission spent $69 million from reserves…
Vincent
7:04 pm on Friday, April 26, 2013
Jeff, look what popped up on the Patch: http://shorewood-il.patch.com/articles/dog-shooter-allowed-to-keep-his-firearms?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001 And the original article: http://shorewood-il.patch.com/articles/dog-shooting-leaves-minooka-family-distraught-man-in-a-nightmare I think that these articles (of the same incident) are perfect examples of how using a firearm can very much work to the … more ›