Two new polls show pretty much the same thing: Illinois Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka is the only Republican with a solid lead over Governor Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat. An independent poll conducted by the Glengariff Group and a poll paid for by a Republican businessman both show Topinka leading the governor in head-to-head match-ups.
Now that the enrollment period for the new private Part D drug plans is upon us, Medicare recipients have clear evidence that "D" stands for "disaster." Reliance on private drug plans and other measures contained in the 2003 Medicare amendments is a disaster for Medicare recipients.
In my 15 years writing about Illinois politics, I've never had a better day at the Statehouse than last Wednesday. I'm probably biased because that was the day the World Series champion White Sox came to Springfield.
The Black Hawk College/Ebony Expressions production on October 28 of Healing Waters: I Will Carry My Sister's Pain observed October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month by prying open the eyes of the audience to the daily reality of pain, fear, abuse, and humiliation experienced by abused women as they struggle to raise children and carve out a life.
Federal investigators didn't make it easy for Governor Rod Blagojevich last week. On his big day, when he tried to turn around his political fortunes with "All Kids," a major new public-health-policy initiative formally unveiled in front of a joint session of the General Assembly with most of the state's media in attendance, the feds dropped yet another subpoena.
I'll say it again: By casting your vote in next Tuesday's election (November 8), you contribute to enlarging the political playing field for future elections. What this does is force the candidates to deal with a broader range of issues that more accurately reflects the public's concerns.
In a large room of a warehouse, countless cardboard boxes sit on the floor and along the walls, overflowing with televisions, computer monitors, wire, and various computer components. An adjoining room has bales of compressed pieces of plastic stacked three and four bundles high that look as if they're ready for the junkyard.
A friend of mine asked me the other day why I stopped being a Cubs fan five years ago and converted to the White Sox. There were many reasons, but the most important one is that I had grown tired of rooting for a team that didn't seem to care about winning.
As a teacher, then an administrator, in the Davenport schools for 24 years, I was very concerned about the health of my students, as I saw many of them not receiving the preventive care that is so important for learning to occur.
Two weeks ago, an elderly woman walked up to where Dan Carmody was sitting in the 3rd & 22 sports bar in Rock Island. "Hi, honey," he said to the woman. "You traitor," she responded. She was kidding, of course, but the greeting isn't surprising.

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