Search query: Illinois

(Source: Ron Cogswell) Last week, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel expressed his disapproval for Governor Pat Quinn's choice for the state's stadium authority. Quinn handpicked Kelly Kraft, a former TV reporter, to serve as Executive Director. The post would require Kraft to not only manage the same body that runs US Cellular Field, but also to oversee a much-needed Wrigley Field renovation that was halted by the Mayor this past July. This latest disagreement is the most recent example of dysfunction

(Al Podgorski / Chicago Sun-Times) Republican Representative Joe Walsh and Democratic nominee Tammy Duckworth are currently locked in a contentious battle for the House of Representatives. Walsh will be trying to retain his seat in Illinois' 8th congressional district-- a seat he won by the narrowest of margins in 2010. As it was two years ago, the independent vote is critical for Joe Walsh in Illinois. Out of 200,000 ballots cast, Walsh propelled himself to victory in 2010 over Democratic inc

Credit: Chicagoist / Aaroncynic Cook County Associate Judge Thomas Donnelly overturned 92 arrests of Occupy Chicago protesters on Thursday. The arrests took place last year as the protesters gathered in Chicago's Grant Park in October. Police made the arrests when the crowd failed to vacate the park by the 11 pm curfew. In total, 303 arrests were made over two nights. Donnelly based his opinion on Barack Obama's 2008 Grant Park victory speech, which ran from approximately 10:57 PM until 11:20

Credit: Dailykos.com A new Marquette University Law School poll shows Democratic US Representative Tammy Baldwin with a nine percentage point lead over former Governor Tommy Thompson (R) in the US Senate race in Wisconsin. The statewide poll marks a complete turnaround from March, which had Thompson at a nine point advantage. Baldwin and Thompson are competing for the senate seat left vacant by Democratic Senator Herbert Kohl, who announced his retirement in May. The open-seat race is bound to

Credit: edmunds.com Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to install school zone speed cameras was momentarily derailed earlier this week. The delay was caused by an Illinois Attorney General’s opinion in 1974, which clarifies the statement “when children are present” in regards to school zone speed limits. According to the Attorney General’s opinion, a child must be visibly present in order for the speed limit to be justified. A section of his statement reads: “The word ‘present,’ as defined in both law

Credit: E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago TribuneGovernor Pat Quinn recently vetoed a casino expansion bill in Illinois, which was heavily supported by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Quinn's reasoning: there is already too much corruption in Chicago politics and not enough regulation present in the casino plan.Proponents of the bill claim the plan would have generated millions in revenue and thousands of jobs. Illinois is currently the fifth-ranked state in the country with the biggest debt, trailing Ca

The 2012 Republican Party platform was formalized today at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, FL. In it, the GOP takes a firm stance against instituting a national popular vote scheme. From the official platform document: We oppose the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact or any other scheme to abolish or distort the procedures of the Electoral College. We recognize that an unconstitutional effort to impose “national popular vote” would be a mortal threat to our federal system an

Credit: LA Times The Republican platform committee pushed a number of anti-illegal immigration platform planks on Tuesday. On top of advocating a completed border fence along the U.S.-Mexico border and requiring employers to use a national E-Verify system when hiring new employees, the committee took a  stance against in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. There haven’t been too many changes made from the 2008 GOP platform. The party is moving more to the right on several issues, including i

Credit: LA Times The Republican platform committee pushed a number of anti-illegal immigration platform planks on Tuesday. On top of advocating a completed border fence along the U.S.-Mexico border and requiring employers to use a national E-Verify system when hiring new employees, the committee took a stance against in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. There haven’t been too many changes made from the 2008 GOP platform. The party is moving more to the right on several issues, including im

Photo: Tim Harris / The New York Times WES MESSAMORE: I’m here with Zahra Billoo, the Executive Director of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and Davi Barker, the Assistant Director of Muslims 4 Liberty to discuss a recent rash of violence, vandalism, and threatening behavior toward American mosques. Since the Sikh Temple shooting earlier this month we have seen multiple mosques attacked across the US, seven by my count. We’ve seen worshipers pelt