Illinois Marathon Pundit

Read all about it in the Chicago Tribune, free registration required. There were two articles in today's sports page about Morris, none mentioned the nickname. Coincidence? Not likely.

Technorati tags: Mascots Morris, Illinois Illinois High School

As I noted yesterday, Marathon Pundit was asked by the Chicago Tribune's Eric Zorn to participate in his regular Month in Review feature on his Tribune blog, Change of Subject. Eric's November month in review is here.

It was a poor choice of issues, illegal immigration, for Obererwies to use in the 2004 senate campaign. Yesterday, that choice looked even more ill-advised.

From the Daily Herald:

Gubernatorial candidate Jim Oberweis was accused Tuesday of talking out of both sides of his mouth — railing against illegal immigration while having his Arlington Heights, Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg stores cleaned at subminimum wage by those same illegal immigrants.

“He says that we should not be here, but then he hires us, abuses us and gets rich off our work,” said Rosa Ramirez, 41, at a press conference put on by Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

Ramirez was referring to a campaign advertisement Oberweis aired in the 2004 campaign for U.S. Senate in which he said he would move to stem the tide of 10,000 illegal immigrants entering the country each day. Oberweis has not made immigration reform a part of his gubernatorial campaign.

Ramirez and Jorge Ibarra, 35, said an Oberweis subcontractor stiffed them in May out of promised pay of $700 a month each for about 100 hours of work each and instead gave her and Ibarra just $350 each or $3.50 an hour, well below the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour and Illinois’ minimum wage of $6.50.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story.asp?id=116276

Hmmm....not having his Sun-Times column has liberated him, it seems.

On his still fairly new blog, "On the Other Hand."

And I did not know this, but Lee Daniels is a marathon runner. Hat tip to Cal Skinner! (So is, he says, Tom Cross and Pat Lindner.)

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

The longtime former head of the Illinois House Republicans who was forced out of his leadership post amid a federal investigation plans to retire from his legislative seat at the end of his term in 2007.

Rep. Lee Daniels (R-Elmhurst) said he has accepted the chairmanship of a $3.5 million capital drive for Sanguin Services, a Cicero-based nonprofit that's geared toward people with disabilities.

"After three decades of serving the 46th District in Springfield, there are new opportunities for me to continue my public service while I spend more time both with my family, friends and law practice," said Daniels, a partner in the Bell, Boyd & Lloyd law firm.

From CBS 2 Chicago:

Topinka Says Gubernatorial Bid Not Official
(Chicago, IL) -- Judy Baar Topinka is mulling over the possibility of running for governor in 2006, but says she is not ready to confirm anything yet. The Illinois state treasurer told reporters on Monday she is getting her petitions and campaign war chest together, and is ready for a brutal race, but she stopped short of confirming her candidacy. Topinka is considered the favorite in a crowded Republican field. One poll has Topinka getting 31-percent of the primary vote, more than twice that of runner-up Jim Oberweis, and some polls have her running close to incumbent Governor Rod Blagojevich.

I had written her off and expected her not to run. Still, my opionion, is that voters may be looking for an outsider fromo the executive branch of state goverment.

We'll see...

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

State treasurer Judy Baar Topinka will run for governor, changing her mind and getting in the race only after getting assurances she'll receive massive campaign-funding help, her top aide said today.

Topinka "decided to go for it," said aide Nancy Kimmee.

Just weeks ago, Topinka wasn't going to jump into the crowded Republican primary field, convinced that she would survive but without the millions of dollars needed to mount a viable campaign against Gov. Blagojevich, who faces no Democratic primary opposition.

He's just in for 120 days...he'll be busy.

Hat tip to Cal Skinner, who pointed out a typo to me on Marathon Pundit.

From the Belleville News-Democrat:

A senior member of the U.S. Justice Department's policy-making staff will serve as U.S. attorney for Southern District of Illinois for the next 120 days, the department announced Friday.

Edward E. McNally will replace U.S. Attorney Ronald J. Tenpas, who is scheduled to step down Nov. 21 after two years. Tenpas is leaving to serve as associate deputy attorney general, a senior Justice Department job focused on policy making.

McNally, 49, is a native of Illinois who is returning to the Prairie State after a five-month stint as senior counsel to the Justice Department's assistant attorney general for the Criminal Division.

From the Daily Southtown:

A man who negotiated hundreds of leases for the Secretary of State's office testified Monday the office broke from accepted practice when it struck a deal with a friend of George Ryan.

Jim Esslinger, a former property management administrator in the Driver's Services Department, said he was directed in 1997 to relocate a driver's licensing facility into a building in South Holland owned by Ryan friend Harry Klein. The feds say Klein had treated Ryan to years of free stays at his Jamaican home.

Esslinger said he typically evaluated at least three sites before choosing one for a licensing facility. But not this time.

Testifying at Ryan's public corruption trial, Esslinger said he hadn't heard of a need to relocate to South Holland from Lake Calumet but was following directions from superiors.