Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Seventeen of 23 election contests will have primaries.
Campaigns for the March 20 Illinois primary and Nov. 6 general elections started to come into clear view today after the deadline passed Monday to land a space in the ballot for all races except United States Congress. Of the 23 campaigns in the North Suburban Patch reading area, candidates will square off in primaries in 17 of those races for either the Democratic or Republican nomination. In three cases, primaries will take place between members of both parties. In the contests for six offices, either the Republican or Democrat has no opponent however party leaders can still choose a nominee. “We have a lot of outstanding candidates,” 10th Congressional District Committeewoman and Moraine Township Democratic Chair Lauren Beth Gash of …
Monday, November 28, 2011
Candidates for 9th and 10th Districts must wait until Dec. 23 to file petitions. All other Illinois office seekers begin today and must finish by Dec. 5.
Candidates for Illinois’s 18 seats in the United States House of Representatives can do nothing but continue to gather signatures on their petitions today as all other office seekers in the state are ready to file their petitions to get on the March 20 primary ballot. After Gov. Patrick Quinn signed legislation enacting the new Congressional map last summer Republican members of Congress including Rep. Robert Dold (R-Kenilworth) of the 10th Congressional District challenged the new boundaries in federal court. As it considers the case, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois postponed the filing period for people running for Congress Wednesday. Rather than file petitions today, the Court ordered a delay …
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Task force of municipal officials drafts white paper for state senator to turn into legislation.
When state Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest) called a meeting in July to bring municipal officials and ComEd executives together to resolve some of the problems arising from severe summer storms, Glenview Village Manager Todd Hileman asked to attend. Little did Hileman know he would be volunteering to head a task force examining ComEd's response to outages. On Tuesday, he and others presented the results of their work during a news conference sponsored by the Northwest Municipal Conference in Chicago: a white paper that Garrett hopes to turn into legislation to hold ComEd accountable for its actions. More storms, more problems Hileman served on a similar task force three years ago after an earlier series of storms and thought some …
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Senator says mounting federal debt could hurt northern suburbs.
Towns, school districts and park boards have a higher cost of doing business because of Illinois’s deepening debt, according to the Report on Illinois Debt released Tuesday by Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Highland Park). Kirk appeared with two members of his debt advisory panel, Ron Bernardi of Lake Forest and Henry Feinberg of Chicago, to ask state government to improve the situation during a news conference Tuesday, with the intention of making the business climate in Illinois as appealing as climates found in neighboring states like Indiana and Wisconsin. “With the pantomime of governors of other states luring business away from Illinois, we have to do something to keep business here” Kirk said. “We are the fifth largest manufacturing state and …
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Governor's veto spurs Garrett, May, Nekritz and Biss to pursue tighter screws on ComEd.
When ComEd appeared Monday before the Highland Park City Council for the third time since June 27 to address reliability issues, its advocacy for the smart grid legislation--previously prevalent--was missing. One reason the ComEd’s “smart grid” legislation may not have come up is because Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed the bill, which had an estimated cost to ratepayers of $2.6 billion, hours earlier. Lawmakers could override Quinn's veto when they return in late October. Highland Park officials took up the issue later that day during their council meeting. Mayor Nancy Rotering wrote last month in Patch that the hearing, which featured ComEd executives, would be much anticipated in light of the utility's push for Illinois Senate Bill 1652 and its …
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
After a summer of big power outages, state reps look for answers.
Dissatisfaction with answers from ComEd at a hearing of the Illinois House Public Utilities Committee Tuesday in Highland Park is causing members of the General Assembly to rethink their support for legislation favored by ComEd. Earlier: ComEd's Legislative Support Evaporates State Rep. Karen May (D-Highland Park) arranged the meeting in the northern suburbs after more than 1.2 million ComEd customers were left without power in the aftermath of storms June 21 and July 11. Twelve members or substitute members of the committee heard ComEd President and Chief Operating Officer Ann Pramaggiore tell a gathering of more than 200 people at the Highland Park Country Club the company was prepared to make changes. Watch the video above.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Karen May, Daniel Biss and others to question ComEd, Illinois Commerce Commission.
Are you one of the more than 1 million people in Chicagoland who have lost power due to the summer storms? Do you want to let your representatives in Springfield know your story? Do you want to hear what ComEd and the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC)—the agency that regulates ComEd—have to say? All of those things and more are possible when the Illinois House of Representatives Public Utilities Committee holds a hearing at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Highland Park Country Club. The meeting was organized by state Rep. Karen May (D-Highland Park) after thunderstorms and high winds knocked out power to more than 1 million ComEd customers. Many were without electricity for days. In Winnetka, which provides electric power to residents, no one…
Friday, July 29, 2011
Mayor, city staff join other suburbs in asking utility for honesty.
With representatives from Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) in attendance, Thursday's gathering of more than 40 mayors and managers from a dozen north suburban communities in Lake Forest soon turned to the utility company's inability to be honest in its communications during the recent storms that knocked power out for much of the Chicagoland area. State Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest) convened the meeting at the Lake Forest Municipal Facility to find ways for all branches of government to work together when crippling storms hit. The last one on July 11 left more than 800,000 ComEd customers without power. Across the board, village and city officials expressed frustration at ComEd giving out inaccurate answers rather than admit it does not …
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
What Independence Day parades taught Kirk, Schakowsky, Dold and others.
Partisanship gave way to patriotism when elected officials and political candidates gathered on the Fourth of July at various local parades. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Highland Park), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston), Rep. Robert Dold (R-Kenilworth) as well as candidates for Congress and local members of the Illinois General Assembly discussed how Independence Day unites Americans, even in difficult economic times, as they prepared to march Monday. “It’s very important for people to feel up this year,” Kirk said at the Northbrook Fourth of July parade, where he went after marching in Oak Lawn and Downers Grove. “It’s a good opportunity to show patriotism when we need it." Hanging onto the American Dream Schakowsky, who walked in Des Plaines and …
fishman
1:51 pm on Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Correcting myself - home values in Evanston have mostly decreased by 1/3rd by Cook County Property taxation standards. And I didn't mean to infer that the Patch will engage in actual journalism - investigate and report. I was alluding to the comments we make without censorship (I have been permenantly censored from Evanston Now because I was able to prove that the local media was covering up … more ›