It’s time for another round of quick takes on the people, places and events that were being talked about in the news this week:
No mas
Champaign County Board member Don Owen wasn’t in long before he decided he wanted out.
Owen, the former Urbana schools superintendent, was appointed to fill a vacant District 7 seat on the county board in February. He filled the slot vacated by Kyle Patterson, who was appointed township supervisor for the city of Champaign.
But Owen recently informed County Executive Steve Summers that he’s dropping his November election bid.
Deputy Champaign County Clerk Annie Patton confirmed that Owen is not running but said the details surrounding his removal from the ballot are unclear.
“We haven’t received any communications (from the executive’s office) about how that is going to play out,” she said.
When Democrat Owen informed County Executive Steve Summers of his plans, he recommended that recent Illinois State University graduate Grant Chassy be considered for his replacement.
Chassy’s online bio states he is the marketing and communications manager for Brokish Hospitality Group in Champaign. He unsuccessfully sought appointment to the supervisor’s post Patterson won.
Owen’s brief tenure on the board has been highlighted by intra-party political infighting and strife stemming from efforts to abolish the county auditor’s office.
On the road again
The black bear — assuming it’s just one — spotted last week in Southern Illinois is on the move.
Or is it?
Who knows? The bear isn’t giving interviews, leaving naturalists to speculate about where it’s been, where it’s going and how it gets there.
The intrigue began in early July when a bear was spotted in Western Kentucky. Sightings in Southern Illinois followed, leading Kentucky wildlife officials to speculate that the bear swam across the Ohio River into Illinois.
The Belleville newspaper reports a bear sighting in Brewer, Mo., possibly after the bear swam across the Mississippi River.
State of Kentucky naturalist John Hast reports bears are “very adept swimmers.”
He speculated that the bear is a “young male” cast out into the world by its mother. If so, the bear will have better luck acclimating himself to Kentucky or Missouri, which have bear populations, than Illinois, whose bear cupboard is bare.
Both Kentucky and Missouri have bear hunting seasons.
Obviously, more is not known than known about where the bear came from — Kentucky or Missouri. If spotted, the public is advised to watch it from a distance and avoid leaving anything food-related available outside.
Out for misadventure
The born-to-be-wild judge from McHenry County who was caught riding his motorcycle at 93 miles per hour has copped a plea and learned a lesson.
Associate Judge Jeffrey Hirsch — still a wild child at 55 — was sentenced to 100 days of court supervision and fined $75 for speeding. He also completed 40 hours of public service work at a local food pantry and attended traffic safety school.
“Obviously, he is going to slow down after this,” said George Kililis, Hirsch’s lawyer.
The judge was stopped by authorities in June as he was driving his 2022 Harley-Davidson north on Illinois 47 in Hebron Township. He was doing 93 mph in a 55-mph zone.
Kililis said he was told by Hirsch that he wanted no preferential treatment, and the judge received none from a special judge brought in to preside over the case.
The motorcycle incident proved to be more than a costly embarrassment to Hirsch. A local news account said Hirsch was “ejected” from the cycle during the traffic stop and was injured.
The story said the Harley’s rear brakes locked as Hirsch “attempted to slow down to stop while on the curve northbound Route 47.”
Hirsch “went off the roadway,” and the “motorcycle rolled onto its side,” the report said.
A sheriff’s deputy “reported that Hirsch was complaining of left-side pain” and that officers requested the fire department come to the scene. Hirsch, who was conscious and breathing, was transported by ambulance to Mercyhealth Hospital in Harvard with non-life-threatening injuries.
The motorcycle sustained severe damage.
“This incident is a reminder that speeding poses a risk to public safety and is often a factor in motor vehicle accidents,” Kililis told the local paper.
Sloooowww growth
Illinois’ economy slowed slightly in July, but still is growing, according to a monthly economic review prepared by University of Illinois Professor Emeritus Fred Giertz.
Giertz’s Flash Index of economic growth factors revealed a decline to 102.3 from 102.5 the previous month.
Giertz said, “any reading above 100 reflects growth.”
“National economic indicators including a stronger than expected second quarter GDP growth (2.4 percent) along with moderating inflation suggests that the Federal Reserve may have accomplished its goal of a ‘soft land’ with attention now focused on interest rate cuts,” he said.
Illinois’ unemployment rate of 5 percent continues to be markedly higher than the national unemployment rate of 4.1 percent. The state’s unemployment rate is up from 4.3 percent a year ago.
State officials, obviously, keep a close eye on revenues. Giertz said July numbers were mixed: Individual income-tax receipts were up from July 2023, while sales and corporate tax revenues were down.
The Flash Index is a “weighted average of Illinois growth rates in corporate earnings, consumer spending and personal income” that are adjusted for inflation.
New digs for Davis
Former Republican U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis is moving from his lobbyist job to new digs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. But he’s keeping his side gig.
The Chamber announced last week that Davis, a former five-term U.S. House of Representatives member whose district included Champaign-Urbana, is its new chief of government affairs.
That means he’ll still be lobbying, but for the chamber and not another D.C. lobbying firm. The Bloomington Pantagraph reported that Davis represented, among other firms, TikTok, the U.S. Cannabis Council and private security firm Allied Universal.
Davis was quoted in a statement as saying that he’s looking forward to being an advocate for Chamber-favored positions that “allow businesses to grow and succeed.”
At the same time, Davis will continue working in a role new to him — political pundit. He’s been providing commentary to the BBC on the 2024 presidential campaign.
Davis, who is from Taylorville, served in the U.S. House for 10 years before rival Democrats laid the groundwork for his involuntary retirement.
In gerrymandering Illinois’ U.S. House districts statewide, they put Davis and U.S. Rep. Mary Miller in the same turf. Miller won a narrow victory over Davis in what proved to be a bitter primary fight in the new 15th Congressional District.
The Democrats’ partisan map-drawing reduced the number of Republican House seats to three — Southern Illinois Reps. Miller and Mike Bost and Peoria U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood. Democrats hold the other 14 congressional seats from Illinois.
Speaking of House seats
Democratic U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski is safely ensconced in her U.S. House seat in a district that includes Champaign-Urbana.
But Republicans have targeted one of her colleagues in the fall campaign: 17th District Rep. Eric Sorensen.
As a consequence, retired circuit judge Joe McGraw, the Republican challenging Sorensen, will be receiving extra help from the National Republican Congressional Committee.
The NRCC, just like its Democratic counterpart, provides extra assistance to party candidates running in the few districts deemed competitive.
The 17th Congressional District includes much of central and northwestern Illinois — the Quad Cities area — and it’s the GOP’s only 2024 pickup opportunity in Illinois.
The Cook Political Report rates the 17th district as “leaning Democrat.” That’s at a maximum because the district was drawn to elect a Democrat.
Sorensen’s campaign is awash in money. According to news accounts, he raised $3.5 million through the second quarter and has spent just over $1 million.
The same news account said McGraw’s campaign has raised about $850,000 and that he has spent close to $375,000.
McGraw served as a circuit judge in the Rockford area for 20 years. Sorensen was a television weatherman before he ran for and was elected to the House in 2022.
