Articles in the Politics Category

The Bandits 2010 schedule shows 16 home games played at Judson University in Elgin. 16 games and 600 spectators per game means 9,600 spectators during the entire season. Of course, some of these people are going to be fans that come back repeatedly. But just look at that figure of 9,600 spectators and look at the amortized cost of the facilities improvements $233,333. That works out to about $24 subsidy per spectator per game.

Elgin Mayor Ed Schock fought off a pair of pit bulls he said tried to attack him and his German shepherd Thursday night.

Full story at the Daily Herald..

Former Niles Township school superintendent Neil Codell is projected to receive $26,661,604 in retirement checks from the Illinois teacher pension plan.

Sadly, the Elgin City Council has backed down yet again on pit bull rules. It looks like every four years they are going to do this, bring it up over and over again and then back down. It’s practically a comedy. This time they spent a year collecting information and considering this, and in the space of a week reversed themselves.
Yes, it does take political courage to pass pit bull rules that affect a vocal minority, but if they didn’t have the courage to start with they should …

The vote was 4-3, with Councilmen Dunne, Steffen and Kaptain voting against it. The measure requires among other things that dangerous dogs be muzzled and leashed in public, that they can only be taken out on walks by persons over the age of 18, that if kept unleashed in a yard, the fence must be six feet tall, and that the animals must be neutered/spayed and microchipped. Pit bulls are classified as dangerous dogs, and their owners must register and license the animal at a cost of $100 for three …

Even before the meeting it looks like the comment threads at the Herald and the Courier are filling up. City officials wisely changed the location of the city council meeting to the Centre ballroom to accomodate what is expected to be a large turnout for the public comment portion.

The town hall event held by U-46 last week apparently drew a large crowd (700 according to one commenter on the Daily Herald) and inspired passionate comments on the Daily Herald site. The event was attended by area legislators Michael Noland and Keith Farnham.
If you attended perhaps you can give us your impression of the event, and even if you didn’t, what impact do you think U-46’s budget woes will have on the reelection bids of the incumbent legislators? It seems that many of the 91 comments on the Herald …