My grandmother tells the story of when she met John F. Kennedy.

It was back in 1959, as Kennedy was still gearing up for his presidential run. Grandma and my grandfather, an active Teamsters Union member and a Democratic precinct committeeman in Kankakee, traveled to Chicago for a labor event featuring JFK.

Kennedy, the story goes, was working the room, and when he made it over to my grandparents he put his arm around my grandmother, kissed her on the cheek, and told my grandfather that he had a "beautiful wife."

Grandma swooned, of course, and decades later when I asked her how she reacted, she joked that she didn't wash that kissed spot on her face for two weeks. To this day, you can't say a bad word about JFK in front of Grandma for fear of risking the evil eye.

The Better Government Association (BGA) filed a lawsuit last week that could create lots of fireworks. The BGA wants to force Governor Rod Blagojevich to release federal grand- jury subpoenas his administration has been served between January and July of last year.

The BGA initially filed a Freedom of Information Act request last year to pry loose the subpoenas. The Blagojevich administration had made it a standard practice to disclose subpoenas until the feds started nosing around the governor's office itself about a year ago, then all cooperation stopped.

After losing five state Senate seats and ending up on the wrong end of a veto-proof majority, there's bound to be a lot of second-guessing and finger-pointing. But Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson probably did himself no favors by going to Europe for 10 days just a month before the November election.

Political columnists usually focus on the dark side of politics, but indulge me today while I say goodbye to three of the best legislators I've ever had the pleasure to know.

All three are hard-working, honest pioneers. Senator Adeline Geo-Karis (R-Zion), born in Tegeas, Greece, was the first woman in Illinois history to become a member of Senate leadership. Senator Miguel del Valle (D-Chicago), born in Puerto Rico, was the first Latino elected to the Illinois Senate and the first Latino to make it to a leadership slot. Senator George Shadid (D-Peoria), born to immigrant parents from Lebanon, was the first Lebanese-American ever elected to the Senate and was also the first Lebanese-American to make it to a Senate leadership position.

Geo-Karis ("Geo" to her friends) lost her primary last spring, del Valle was appointed Chicago City Clerk last week (another Latino first), and Shadid is retiring.