Illinois
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4:22 p.m.
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Bloomington-Normal had its second Critical Mass bike ride in as many months, Friday, June 29. About 35 cyclists rode together from downtown Bloomington to uptown Normal. Immediately following Critical Mass, the Common Action Free School hosted a class on “Do-It-Yourself Bike Fix-It” skills. Free Schoolers, Trenton and Eric, led a group of nearly 50 people … Continue reading &#...
Just BloNo - Fri 9:25 p.m. - 7 clicks 
The 00Z (8 am EDT) soundings are in. The 00Z models have run. This could be the "hottest day in living memory" (NWS Fort Wayne/South Bend) if you live in Indiana south of I-80 or Illinois east of I-57. The NWS predicts temperatures of 100-106 in Indiana. Chicago may only hit 98. St. Louis is looking at 108 F. More comments below the squiggle: ...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Thu 9:24 a.m. - 9 clicks
My husband's college educated, childhood friend worked for Honeywell for almost 20 years as an engineer. He graduated from Purdue University and settled with his family in Freeport, Illinois. At one time, home of good jobs for growing middle class families. Well, not any longer. My husband's friend has had to go through the heart breaking task of training his replacement and his ...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Wed 5:49 p.m. - 11 clicks
As collar counties of Chicago go, (until you hit the central and southern farm-based red zones) the two most conservative counties are Dupage and Lake. Dupage, until the convictions of some of the worst GoOPers and their sugar daddy, Cellini, was more involved in the hands on political machinations and maneuverings of state government. Lake County, on the other hand, somehow had the brain trust ...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Wed 3:08 p.m. - 9 clicks
June 26, 2012 Latinos United for Change (L.U.C.), the Latino organizing arm of Illinois People’s Action, has been one of the only grassroots community organizations working on immigration issues in Central Illinois since 2008. For the past year L.U.C. has been involved in a campaign with the McLean County Sheriff’s department in an effort to … Continue reading » ...
Just BloNo - Tue 5:31 a.m. - 13 clicks
B y Donna Smith | National Nurses United My cancer won’t wait and doesn’t care about what nine robed judges in Washington, DC, say about healthcare. Cancer doesn’t care. Obamacare. Romneycare. No matter. Cancer doesn’t care. But the nurses do. Bookmark/Search this post with: ...
Progressive Reads (PDA-IL) - Sun 1:32 p.m. - 13 clicks
Good news for Democrats who live in the 12th district of Illinois: William Enyart has been selected unanimously by a panel of Democrats involved in picking Jerry Costello and Brad Harriman's replacement in Chester, Illinois. BND: CHESTER: A panel of Democratic leaders unanimously chose Bill Enyart of Belleville on Saturday to be the party's candidate in the 12th Congressional District ra...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Jun 23 - 11 clicks
Important Break with Party Leaders Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairman Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., told Red Alert Politics Tuesday morning at the Campaign for American’s Take Back the American Dream Conference, that Obamacare doesn’t go far enough. Bookmark/Search this post with: ...
Progressive Reads (PDA-IL) - Jun 20 - 2 clicks
Former Republican Illinois Governor Jim Edgar is launching a new initiative in which he is bringing 40 Illinois politicians, most of them Republicans, together to learn how to compromise , leading to rumors that the Romney presidential campaign may be seriously considering Edgar for the Republican vice-presidential slot, who served two terms as Illinois's Governor from 1991-1999. It is quite ...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Jun 18 - 2 clicks
My sister-in-law is a single parent working as an assistant director for a day care center. A few years ago, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and at the time she qualified for Medicaid. Fortunately, she is now cancer free but will have to take medication for the rest of her life. I wonder what she would have done if she was not covered by this. Would she have been able to...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Jun 18 - 3 clicks
Social movement organizations in Bloomington-Normal are launching a new collaborative calendar, called the BloNo Calendar, where people can share their events and meetings. The calendar focuses on social movement activity in town and maintains independence from political parties. People can participate in the maintenance of the calendar in three ways. Submit an Event BloNo residents … Conti...
Just BloNo - Jun 15 - 7 clicks
The same legislation that was supposed to make it impossible for Chicago teachers to strike also laid the groundwork for the nearly 90 percent support for a strike. And now Stand for Children, the corporate education group that pushed through the Illinois legislation is trying to do the same thing in Massachusetts. The groundwork was laid for the Chicago strike vote when Stand for Children ...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Jun 12 - 4 clicks
Illinois' 13th Congressional district is one of the top pick-up opportunities for Democrats nationally. It's a newly created, Democratic-leaning district with no incumbent after Republican Tim Johnson dropped out of the race. Republican county chairmen recently chose to replace Johnson on the ballot with Rodney Davis, a staffer for Congressman John Shimkus. Shimkus isn't well known outside Ill...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Jun 11
Well, it's nice to be writing about my home state of Illinois on here for the first time in a while since the dust from the Wisconsin recalls has settled down. Incumbent Democratic Governor of Illinois Pat Quinn has not yet decided whether or not he will seek a second full term as Governor of Illinois. Quinn has low approval ratings, so I doubt that he will run for re-election, but he might. ...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Jun 9
On Monday, June 11th, Common Action Free School hosts a class on the basics of disc golf. Marcus Mann, sports coach and disc golf player, will share throwing tips at P.J. Irvin park in Bloomington, after which participants will play a round in the community’s signature park. People will be gathering for the class at … Continue reading » ...
Just BloNo - Jun 9 - 6 clicks
By Bill Bianchi, PDA-Illinois Washington, where are you? I t seems to me that the one person who could turn the close recall election in Wisconsin into an easy victory for the recall proponents has chosen to sit on his hands. And I’m wondering, why? Bookmark/Search this post with: ...
Progressive Reads (PDA-IL) - Jun 5
Last week public sector unions, organized under the We Are One coalition, successfully blocked a pension bill that would have sought to solve the state’s economic and fiscal crisis upon the backs of its employees. Dozens of unionists from Bloomington-Normal traveled to Springfield to lobby and rally against the pension reform, and hundreds from BloNo … Continue reading » ...
Just BloNo - Jun 4 - 8 clicks
In Illinois, they run reproductive rights bills through the agriculture committee. In Missouri, they call male lawmakers experts because they are the sons of veterinarians. Written by Robin Marty for RH Reality Check . This diary is cross-posted; commenters wishing to engage directly with the author should do so at the original post . ...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Jun 3 - 2 clicks
Illinois State Rep. Cynthia Soto sponsored HB4487 which would place a moratorium on school closings, consolidations and phase-outs in CPS for the 2012-2013 school year. Sen. Iris Martinez sponsored the Senate version of the bill. We need your help to get these crucial bills passed. We need you to testify at the Illinois House Elementary & Secondary Education Committee hearing. &...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Jun 3
IL US Senator Mark Kirk suffered a massive stroke in January, and since then, he's been in hospital, or at the Rehab Institute (one of the best in the world) recovering function on his left side. Details of his recuperation have been slim. I'm not totally without redeeming social value, so, despite a deep ideological divide between the senator and myself, on a human level, I have sympath...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Jun 3
Republicans in IL-13 don't yet have a nominee after incumbent Rep. Tim Johnson (R-Urbana) won a 3-way GOP primary on March 20, in fact, the meeting of Republican county chairmen in 14 Illinois counties in order to select a replacement nominee isn't until May 19. Now, Republicans appear to be rallying around attorney and 2003 Miss America Erika Harold (R-Chicago). Harold, despite being a mu...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Jun 3 - 4 clicks
At a recent town hall, Tea Party favorite, Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois was caught on tape saying: “The Democratic Party promises groups of people everything. They want the Hispanic vote. They want Hispanics to be dependent upon government, just like they got African-Americans dependent upon government. That’s their game.” Walsh’s comments are not only offensive, they are especially irresponsi...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Jun 1
When we last visited the sordid life of U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (Ill.), his ex-wife filed an FEC complaint against him for funneling campaign money to his ex-mistress, Dodie McCracken. This, despite the fact that Kirk put his ex-wife on his 2010 campaign payroll to hush her up when she started talking to the press about how Dodie turned Mark from a perceived moderate into a true wingnut. Plea...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Jun 1 - 2 clicks
Apparently, the Illinois Democratic Party, of which our present President was once a member, has shifted course from the support of teachers to holding them responsible for fixing the budget problems . ...
DailyKos (Illinois) - May 31
This guy is not wrong. No matter what you think of Mike Madigan (and I happen to like and admire him), the net effect of the top down method of legislation is that the rank and file play poker, drink or chase women until the leadership of both parties AT THE TOP, disgorge something that the body is to vote upon. As you probably know, "penultimate" means "next to last" The last stage is a...
Upper Mississippi River Basin - May 31
The American Civil Liberties Union and Lamba Legal have filed separate lawsuits on behalf of 25 same-sex couple in state court asking for Illinois to legalize same-sex marriage. Illinois is currently a civil union state in regards to LGBT rights; Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation into law in February of 2011 legalizing civil unions between same-sex couples. The lead plaintiffs in the nin...
DailyKos (Illinois) - May 30
Brad Harriman, who won the Democratic primary in IL-12 on March 20, has ended his camapign due to a neurological medical condition that requires surgery. Democratic county chairpersons in the 12 counties that compromise IL-12, which includes a wide swath of Southwestern Illinois, taking in part of Madison County and all of Saint Clair, Monroe, Randolph, Perry, Jefferson, Franklin, Williamson, Ja...
DailyKos (Illinois) - May 30
The We Are One Coalition, made up of public-sector workers in numerous Illinois unions, are in a struggle to save worker pensions. Unionists from Bloomington-Normal, mostly from AFSCME and the Illinois Education Association, traveled on Thursday to Springfield to participate in a 400-strong rally and lobbying effort to stop any bill not accepted by public … Continue reading » ...
Just BloNo - May 25 - 5 clicks
Recently Vision 2020 sponsored and assisted Heather Evert in removing part of her lawn and replacing it with richer soil, compost and native plants. How does this fit into our vision? Vision 2020 Bloomington-Normal is part of the Transition Initiative, an international movement preparing for the impacts of climate change and peak oil by promoting … Continue reading » ...
Just BloNo - May 24 - 5 clicks
Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and a member of the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel has resigned and will leave office on June 30. News reports say that he is leaving this position in Chicago and as of now has no future job lined up. No reason was given for his decision. Photo from Wikipedia U.S. Attorney P...
DailyKos (Illinois) - May 23
Health Insurance Exchanges: Read the fine print By Dr. Anne Scheetz, organizer for PNHP and ISPC / Style Definitions / table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt;"Times New Roman";} Bookmark/Search this post with: ...
Progressive Reads (PDA-IL) - May 22 - 3 clicks
Protest Marches Anti-war protesters at the NATO Summit in Chicago faced off with Chicago police all day on Sunday May 20th in a cat and mouse game that lasted late into the night. War veterans wanting to return their medals led a march of thousands early in the day. Later in the afternoon CPD blocked Michigan Street and pushed back on the crowd. Police officers alternately donned gas mas...
DailyKos (Illinois) - May 21
With most of the attention regarding the U.S. House races in Illinois focused on IL-13, where Republican county chairmen are set to meet Saturday in order to slate a replacement nominee after Rep. Tim Johnson announced his retirement after winning the GOP primary on March 20, the most uncompetitive U.S. House race anywhere in the country, excluding races where a single candidate is unopposed, is...
DailyKos (Illinois) - May 17 - 2 clicks
As a result of the 2010 Census, Illinois will lose one seat in the United States House of Representatives, going from 19 seats to 18 seats. Since the Illinois General Assembly, which is responsible for redistricting in Illinois, is completely controlled by Democrats, and Democrat Pat Quinn is our governor, redistricting strongly favored Democrats . Factoring in incumbent Rep. Donald Manzullo's ...
DailyKos (Illinois) - May 7 - 2 clicks
This is just disgusting. Speaking at a town hall meeting, TBag Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) suggested President Obama was only elected president because he's an African-American. This is what racism looks like. You don't have to use the "N" word to be a racist, all you have to do is belittle a person of color by stating that the only reason they were elected to the highest office in the land is the c...
DailyKos (Illinois) - May 1
And answer I do by retreating to the far, far northwestern corner of Illinois, which along with southwest Wisconsin, southeast Minnesota, and northeast Iowa is known as the Driftless Area. This area derives its name from being unglaciated in a region that had many glacial episodes, going back nearly two million years to the Pleistocene Epoch. Having escaped the leveling effect of continental...
DailyKos (Illinois) - May 1 - 2 clicks
I haven't written here for some time — a flaw I intend to remedy, as I highly value both this site and this wonderful community — but wanted to share some information with you all, and with anyone who resides in Illinois's 16th Congressional District. IL-16 encompasses the eastern half of Rockford, the third-largest city in Illinois and largest outside of the Chicago area, and extends south and ...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Apr 29
The Ed Show -- Interview with Governor Pat Quinn (D-IL) -- Apr 25, 2012 link to video Meanwhile in Illinois, Governor Pat Quinn has booming Job Growth in Manufacturing ... by respecting the process of collective bargaining , by getting behind projects like high speed rail , by honoring the workers of this country. Workers, both public and private, who Quinn ...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Apr 25
Signing wingnut legislation apparently doesn't create jobs (Darren Hauck/Reuters) As I've noted before, Republicans had a great deal of fun back in early 2011 taunting Illinois for (surprisingly) electing a Democratic governor, Pat Quinn. The theory was that Quinn's tax increases, designed to close a huge budget gap, would lead to a business exodus to Gov. Scott Walker's Wisconsin conse...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Apr 20
A Sunday sermon made the news on Tuesday, as seen here , when a catholic bishop compared Obama to Hitler, and essentially told his flock to vote against Obama this fall. And after the Last Word yesterday, I expected some backlash against Lawrence O'Donnell when he called the bishop and the church out on violating their tax-exempt status. I don't expect it to go anywhere, but Americans United ...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Apr 20 - 2 clicks
Genealogy & Family History Community Leave the blood feuds at home Archie Lee Garrison, my great grandfather, was born in 1882. He was the son of Miles & Mary Francis Garrison and born in Logan County, Illinois. Miles and Mary had...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Apr 20 - 2 clicks
During the very same meeting in which members of the Vermilion County, Illinois Board of Review decided to place a referendum on the November 6 ballot allowing for voters to approve or reject an electrical aggregation program that is being pushed by Integrys Energy Group, the county board gave themselves, the county recorder, the county auditor, the county coroner, and the circuit court clerk p...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Apr 19 - 3 clicks
Members of the Vermilion County, Illinois Board of Review have placed a referendum on the ballot that would allow the Vermilion County Board to initiate an electrical aggregation program in Vermilion County. Under such a proposal, a third party that resells electricity produced by Ameren, the utility company that currently provides electricity to residents of Vermilion County, will negotiate u...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Apr 18 - 2 clicks
Scott Walker should feel right at home in Springfield, Illinois this morning where he is scheduled to speak before the Illinois Chamber of Commerce. Up to 2,000 labor demonstrators have assembled outside the Abraham Lincoln Hotel and Conference Center Tuesday morning ahead of Gov. Scott Walker's speech to the Illinois Chamber of Commerce. "We have enough problems in Illinois, we don't nee...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Apr 17 - 4 clicks
In Vermilion County, Illinois, the Vermilion County Board of Review is expected to consider whether or not to put a proposed referendum on the November 6 ballot that would give the County Board the authority to negotiate a bulk electricity rate on behalf of residents and some businesses in the county. I am a resident of Vermilion County, and I am outraged that the Vermilion County Board woul...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Apr 16
Since "weatherdude" isn't around, I mean how dare he not be here EVERY SINGLE second there are storms somewhere, I thought I would post this short Diary so people could chat. Here in southern Illinois the first tornado warnings have just started to pop-up. Best I can tell from the reports the worse will pass to the north of me. Good for me, not so good for those that live in Iowa and other pla...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Apr 15
By Bill Bianchi, PDA America’s murderous gun culture, racist attitudes and double standard justice system so apparent in Florida’s Trayvon Martin incident, combined again, this time not in the deep South, but in Cook County Illinois. There a jury acquitted homeowner Donald Rattanavong of manslaughter charges in the shooting death of an 18 year old, Gulliermo Pineda. Bookm...
Progressive Reads (PDA-IL) - Apr 14 - 2 clicks
As the infamous KMOV (my home DMA's CBS affiliate, owned by Belo) reporter Larry Conners interview with President Barack Obama (D) story has made huge waves, is Conners behaving like a neutral journalist, or a partisan right-wing hack? Take your guess, and it's the latter. Mitchell S. Gilbert at Addicting Info has the unbiased takedown of Conners: So what does a nationally unknown TV ...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Apr 13 - 2 clicks
All absentee, military, overseas and provisional votes have now been counted across the 13th Congressional District where PDA progressive, Dr. David Gill won a narrow victory over corporate Democrat Matt Goetten in the March 20 Democratic primary. The Gill campaign reports David Gill is the Democratic nominee by a 162 vote margin. "We gained 19 votes over our election night ma...
Progressive Reads (PDA-IL) - Apr 11 - 2 clicks
This GOP pie fight is over the nomination to replace former Illinois State Senator Rick Winkel for the Champaign County Circuit Clerk. On March 20, Republicans in Champaign County voted for Rick Winkel, a former member of the Illinois Senate, over Stephanie Holderfield, a member of the Champaign County Board . The interesting thing about Winkel's primary win is that he suspended his campaign af...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Apr 10 - 3 clicks
Every once in a while something comes along in our bizarre political world that can't help but make you smile. Someone gets something just right. They tell you exactly what you feel in a way that you can't help but connect with. Watch the video and follow me after the break to find out why you need to about Dr. David Gill. ...
DailyKos (Illinois) - Apr 4
Here is the letter I wrote to the PJ Star about their editorial critical of the Obama Administration’s new rule on contraception and health insurance http://www.pjstar.com/opinions/ourview/x1085185303/Our-View- When I read the Journal Star Editorial regarding the Obama administration requirement that employers include contraception coverage in the ...
slothropia.com - Feb 9
