This coming week is a key week in the Springfield legislative calendar: all bills originating in the House, have to have been voted on in the House and sent to the Senate, by April 17th (with the exception of the budget, “shell bills” and other loopholes).  This means that last week was a busy week…

This coming week is a key week in the Springfield legislative calendar: all bills originating in the House, have to have been voted on in the House and sent to the Senate, by April 17th (with the exception of the budget, “shell bills” and other loopholes).  This means that last week was a busy week…

While the primary sucked a lot of air out of the room, more has been going on than simply that election, as the legislature in Springfield has once again proven its ineffectiveness.  We’re at what amounts to halftime in the Springfield calendar – while we won’t know what new taxes will come with the new…

In the first part of the Spring legislative session, State Representatives and Senators were busy introducing bills, and much of our attention was on the Bears and the primary.  Now there are an endless succession of hearings, and with each hearing comes witness slips, the one small way we can all register our opinion on…

The photograph you see here has no date on it. On the back is written, “Amelia Wittkoetter[‘s] mother and sister Anne”; that’s my grandmother’s handwriting, and the photo is of her grandmother, also named Amelia Wittkoetter, and aunt. It’s clear that they are not well-off; the girl’s dress is ill-fitting, the woman’s hands are gnarled…

Last night, the updated text of the “Mega Projects” bill was finally released, yes, as a shell bill, and this morning, I watched the House Revenue and Finance Committee hearing in which they passed through committee the “Mega Projects” bill that the Bears and local civic leaders have been asking for.  I’ve been skeptical of…

News reports say that hearings on the Bears/megaprojects bill are scheduled to begin on Thursday in Springfield. At the same time, ongoing reports have made it clear that the ultimate decision lies with Pritzker and a small handful of top Democrats.  Whether this means that the Bears’ ploy of using proposed “free” sites in Indiana…

I am heartbroken about the news that Ed Lapinski, Elk Grove Township Republican committeeman, has made comments in a text exchange indicating that he gave credence to the Holocaust-denying claims of a YouTube video. This seems out of character for him and I am struggling to reconcile this with my interactions with him. Minimizing the…

I want my campaign to be focused on the people of Illinois and on the need for Illinois in all of its beauty and strength to be preserved for future generations. Accordingly, I have resisted getting involved in discussions about national topics and national politics, but it seems inescapable to do so with regard to…

On Friday, Block Club Chicago reported that St. Stanislaus Kostka announced the closure of its school after more than 150 years of serving children.  The church and school, known as the “mother church of Chicago Polonia,” is well-known to anyone who’s driven down the Kennedy, and in fact it was nicknamed “the parish that moved…