Statewide update—March 9, 2011

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SouthtownStar—Tinley Park advances FOI plan, “Chilling effect? No,’ he said. ‘I’m trying to get around extensive amounts of FOIs and frivolous FOIs…Rea insisted that publicizing FOI requests was not intended to be a deterrent for seeking public information, but he acknowledged wanting to free his staff from sending so much time on them.”

• (AP) State Journal Register—Blagojevich asks judge to cancel retrial, sentence him on conviction, “The impeached former governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, asked a judge on Wednesday to cancel his retrial and promptly sentence him on the sole conviction from his first trial, arguing that money woes prevent him from mounting an ample defense.”

• Daily Herald—Mayor, trustees tussle over law firm, “[Ancel Glink] told trustees Illinois law empowers mayors — not village boards — to appoint legal counsel. In a memo, he said his firm was prepared to disregard the board’s vote and continue providing legal services.”

• WBEZ—Illinois law aims to protect minority voting rights, “One of the purposes of the law is to make sure our racial minorities, our language minorities, our citizens who live in a particular area, get a fair chance to elect the person of their choice.”

Statewide Update—Jan. 26, 2011

• Peoria Journal Star—Agency Director: I was told to get rid of Republicans; Court testimony comes in lawsuit filed by 16 former IDOT workers, “The former director of the state Historic Preservation Agency testified Tuesday that representatives of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich told him in 2003 to “get rid of Republicans” in his agency.”

• Daily Herald—DuPage hires remap consultant, spikes confidentiality clause, “Schirott, Luetkehans and Garner, P.C. will be paid up to $125,000 to serve as a consultant to the county board committee charged with configuring the future legislative map.  However, the firm won’t need to comply with a confidentiality clause that had DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin raising concerns about lack of transparency.”

• Southtown Star—Quinn signs Medicaid reform into law, “Gov. Pat Quinn signed major reforms to Medicaid into Illinois law Tuesday, calling it a “landmark achievement” as he was flanked by a bipartisan group of state lawmakers who said the changes aim to reduce costs, pay bills sooner and target fraud.”

• (AP) State Journal-Register—Illinois Supreme Court will hear Rahm Emanuel appeal, “About the only thing abundantly clear after a chaotic and unprecedented day at the Chicago Board of Elections: Voters only get to vote once, even if their ballots are wrong.”

• The Southern—Overdue bills still an issue for Illinois, “The state’s stack of unpaid bills will soon double despite an income tax increase, according to state Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka.”

• Trib Local (Arlington Heights)—Taxpayers organize to influence politics, “Fed up with rising tax bills, residents have organized a watchdog group to  try and influence local politics and keep taxes down.”

• (AP) Peoria Journal Star—SEC reviewing Illinois pension predictions, “The Securities and Exchange Commission is reviewing the Illinois pension systems and state officials’ statements about how much future savings the state will get from reforms enacted last spring, Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration said Tuesday.”

• Rockford Register Star—Sheffields savings ideas: Close 8 Rockford schools, reduce staff, “Eight schools will close, gifted and several other programs will relocate to other schools, and kindergarten will shrink to a half-day program if the Rockford School Board adopts cost-cutting recommendations from Superintendent LaVonne Sheffield.”