Click on the following to read this 800+ page report: http://ethics.house.gov/sites/ethics.house.gov/files/House%20Report%20105-1_1.pdf
Monday, January 23, 2012
Interactive: Gay marriage laws in the U.S. by state
The changing nature of gay marriage/civil unions is shown for various years by clicking on the following link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2017315344_interactive.html
1995—Present
Illinois Supreme Court gives OK for cameras in trial courts
By Scott Reeder | Illinois Statehouse News
The new policy includes some restrictions:
• Jurors and potential jurors may not be photographed.
• Cameras and recording devices will not be allowed in juvenile, divorce, adoption, child custody and evidence suppression cases.
• No more than two television cameras and no more than two still photographers will be allowed in a courtroom at one time.
• Victims of violent felonies, police informants and relocated witnesses may request that the judge prohibit them from being photographed.
Although the policy goes into effect Tuesday, the chief judges of Illinois’ 23 circuit courts are responsible for implementing the policy. Once a chief judge of a circuit court applies and is approved by the Supreme Court, news media may request to cover eligible cases electronically in that circuit court.
Members of the news media are responsible for applying for electronic coverage each time they want to cover a particular case. Specific details of the application process will be released Tuesday.
Read the entire story by clicking on the following: http://illinois.statehousenewsonline.com/7506/illinois-supreme-court-gives-ok-to-cameras-in-trial-courts/
Sun-Times no longer makes political endorsements
The Chicago Sun-Times said in an editorial published Monday that it will no longer make endorsements in the upcoming election.
The following is taken from: http://www.suntimes.com/opinions/10174893-474/editorial-why-we-will-no-longer-endorse-in-elections.html
Se
Somebody in the Midwest, Field believed, had to stand up and counter the isolationist and anti-Roosevelt fulminations of Col. Robert McCormick and his Chicago Tribune.
It was an era, even then drawing to a close, when many American newspapers were unabashedly partisan, and not necessarily only on the editorial page. Not unlike news shops on cable TV and the Web today, they catered to a core of readers who thought very much like them.
Those days are gone. Most good newspapers today attempt to appeal to the widest possible readership, including people of every political persuasion, by serving up the best and most unbiased news coverage possible. They want to inform you, not spin you.
With this in mind, the Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board will approach election coverage in a new way. We will provide clear and accurate information about who the candidates are and where they stand on the issues most important to our city, our state and our country. We will post candidate questionnaires online. We will interview candidates in person and post the videos online. We will present side-by-side comparisons of the candidates’ views on the key issues. We will post assessments made by respected civic and professional groups, such as the Chicago Bar Association’s guide to judicial candidates.
What we will not do is endorse candidates. We have come to doubt the value of candidate endorsements by this newspaper or any newspaper, especially in a day when a multitude of information sources allow even a casual voter to be better informed than ever before.
Research on the matter suggests that editorial endorsements don’t change many votes, especially in higher-profile races. Another school of thought, however — often expressed by readers — is that candidate endorsements, more so than all other views on an editorial page, promote the perception of a hidden bias by a newspaper, from Page One to the sports pages.
In keeping with this effort to go the extra mile to reassure you of our commitment to nonpartisanship, we also have decided to extend to our senior management the journalist code of ethics ban on making contributions to political campaigns.
We pride ourselves in offering a smart editorial page that is deeply engaged in vital civic issues, and we will continue on that course. We have in the last year singled out for special attention a handful of issues on which we believe great progress must be made for the sake of Chicago’s future, beginning with the quality of our public schools, the health of our local economy, the city’s and state’s shaky finances, the crying need for alternatives to prison for low-level nonviolent offenders, and the integrity of our political system. We want a cleaner lake and a cleaner river. We want safer parks and streets. We want an end to daily traffic gridlock.
We’ll keep pushing.
But our goal, when we’re not too much on our high horse, is to inform and influence your thinking, not tell you what to do.
Especially with respect to endorsements.
As many of you have told us, you can make up your own mind, thank you very much.
We endorse that opinion.
John Barron
Publisher
Tom McNamee
Editorial Page Editor
Illinois Sen. Kirk suffers stroke
spokesperson for Sen. Mark Kirk says the Illinois Republican has suffered a stroke and has undergone surgery.
Read more by clicking on the following: http://www.nwherald.com/2012/01/23/illinois-sen-kirk-suffers-stroke/a443cqw/
Chicago Tribune coverage: "Due to his young age, good health and the nature of the stroke, doctors are very confident in the Senator's recovery over the weeks ahead. Click on the following for more details: "http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-sen-mark-kirk-hospitalized-after-suffering-stroke-20120123,0,6664285.story
Sunday, January 22, 2012
BDR Coverage of Capron Rescue continues
Click on the following to read this on-line article: http://www.belvideredailyrepublican.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7354:lawsuit-dismissed-against-3-capron-rescue-squad-officials&catid=107:poplar-grove&Itemid=509
"…personal purchases allegedly made with district funds, is being investigated by the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, he said.
Sikich’s report states it examined 40 transactions during the 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 fiscal years and found 19 of them had no supporting documentation.
‘Of these 40 transactions, we noted three instances where personal purchases were made using district funds,’ the report states. ‘In one instance, the district was reimbursed by the individual who made those purchases. However, there were two instances where the district was either not fully reimbursed “
Saturday, January 21, 2012
The County Board of Health spends $16,266 and what did they get?
An earlier posting (http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2011/12/update-two-boone-county-board-members.html) spoke of a FOIA request from two county board members who wished to read the expensive personnel report that the Board of Health ordered up. The Health Department’s answer was that the Health Department/Board of Health did not have a copy of the report and they would obtain a copy and send it to the requestors.
Apparently the Boone County Journal also requested the controversial report. Below is the BJC story in this weeks paper. Below ”The Report” story is a photocopy of the actual report.
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Click on the photocopy to enlarge:
Click on the photocopy to enlarge:
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