Fireworks on Crystal Lake Tomorrow Night

Posted on by July 4, 2009
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Just in case you can’t make it out to Crystal Lake to see tomorrow night’s fireworks, here’s what they looked like two years ago.

As I looked at where the boats out on Crystal Lake to watch Sunday night’s fireworks, it stuck me as pretty funny.

Usually, they are at beyond Lakewood’s Gate 7, maybe Gate 5. This time the wind was blowing so hard from the northeast that the leading edge of the boats was pretty much even with the pier where we dock our boat at Gate 9.

So, no reason to take the boat out to watch the fireworks.

Last year I had just gotten my new digital Canon Rebel as a birthday present from my wife.

She was tired of my spending so much money on film.

I sat on the pier and braced the camera against the post and had a grand old time.

I’d click a picture of the fireworks and look at it on the small screen on the back of the camera.

The photos looked alright to me.

But, when I enlarged them, some looked like coral.

That was because the camera moved so many times while the lens was open.

This year I brought my Christmas tripod. It’s a heavy-duty piece of equipment.

I set it up in the sand at the water’s edge, set the exposure and started clicking away.

The results were far superior to last year’s.

At one point it seemed that the north side of Crystal Lake was on fire. I wondered if something unplanned had occurred.

But, the fireworks continued.

The fireworks were paid for by the proceeds of the Crystal Lake Gala, by the way.

The one above looks like one of the Hubble Telescope pictures of deep space. Note the red clouds, which could be solar dust in another context.

I saw a pyramid of exploding rockets.

Multiple galaxies disintegrating.

Koosh balls and pin wheels in the sky.

Fiber optic bundles.

A palm tree with really spiky leaves.

Blue stemmed cat tails.

A galaxy exploding in only two directions.

Neon colored tubes.

A scalloped shaped image.

A space station exploding.

A white thistle.

Feathers looking like the top of a palm tree.

Gold, blue and white koosh balls.

Lights of a plane in the sky above the fireworks.

Finally, one where you can definitely see how hard the wind was blowing from the northeast. It was a cold wind that had our family wrapped in blankets, wearing sweatshirts and anything else they could find that would keep them warm.

All of the photographs of fireworks can be enlarged by clicking on their images.

TEA Party in Crystal Lake Across from Sam’s Club at Noon Saturday & at Cary’s Rt. 14 Cuckoo’s Nest

Posted on by July 3, 2009
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A press release from Patriots United:

Members of Patriots United and many others will be gathering in Crystal Lake on the 4th of July for a tea party. Please join us!

WHAT: A peaceful tax & government waste protest. (No blocking traffic.)

WHEN: Saturday, July 4th. Noon to 2 p.m.

WHERE: We will be in the grassy areas in front of Harris Bank and the Former Baker’s Square. We will be located across the street from Sam’s Club on Route 14 in Crystal Lake. Parking has been approved in those lots for Tea Party Participants.

Bring your Tea Party Sign Slogans, your American flags plus your cell phone and call Congress and the president while attending the TEA party rally. (Representative and Senators, 202-224-3121; President, 202-456-1414).

Tell every American about this effort.

And, here’s an email from Cary’s Cuckcoo’s Nest across from the train station:

Tired of paying

high income tax,
sales tax,
property tax,
toll tax,
vehicle tax,
parking tax,
postal tax,
gas/electric tax,
cell phone tax,
gas tax,
tobacco/liquor/fat tax,
lottery tax,
inheritance (death) tax,
cow-fart tax,
etc.

ad nausum?

Think our government is bloated while your wallet is shrinking?

Do you believe that our politicians may have lost sight of the freedoms in our Constitution?

Please join our grass-roots movement to help get this great Country back on track.

Please help us show our local and federal officials that we are mad and we are not going to take it anymore!

Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, etc…Let’s join TOGETHER.

It’s Time…..

TEA Party

Saturday, July 4th
Noon-2pm
@ The Cuckoo’s Nest Grill & Bar
100 Crystal St. (Rt. 14)…(very busy street) 🙂
Cary, IL 60013
(847)639-8594

Please bring your posters and signs!

Free water/soda.

CYA there!

Kelli Joseph

Here’s what the last Crystal Lake TEA Party looked like.

Part 3 – The Highest Paid State Employees in McHenry County

Posted on by July 3, 2009
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Here is the third group of the highest paid State of Illinois employees living in McHenry County.

Right on top is David Keahl, Governor Rod Blagojevich’s Director of Ethics Training and Compliance. He works in the Office of Executive Inspector General and was not appointed by Blagojevich his boss tells me. Keahl lives in Crystal Lake.

Looking at the places that pay the most money, again the Illinois State Police is well represented.

Michael Coli, a Blagojevich appointed member of the Labor Relations Board, is also on the list. He’s a retired Teamster’s rep and gave $500 to Dick Gephart in 2004 and $750 to John McCain last year. He lives in Turnberry in Lakewood.

  • KEAHL, DAVID E – $97,854, Governor
  • MINNIEAR, MICHAEL J – $97,795, State Police
  • STUMPNER,JAMES A – $97,404, Transportation
  • TRAVIA, STEPHEN M – $97,268, Transportation
  • SZAFRANSKIBRIAN J – $96,985, Toll Highway Authority
  • WOJCIKRICHARD F – $96,417, Transportation
  • MYHRE, MICHAEL A – $95,941, State Police
  • FELD, JOHN J – $94,429, Toll Highway Authority
  • BUTZOW, ROBERT – $94,110, Human Services
  • HAGMANN, CHRISTIAN LA – $93,076, Transportation
  • SMITH, DANIEL P – $93,006, State Police
  • KINAST, CONSTANCE – $92,371, Human Services
  • COLI, MICHAEL G – $91,919, Labor Relations Board
  • O’BRIEN, RAYMOND M – $91,655, State Police
  • COOMBS, LESLIE B – $91,085, Employment Security
  • CONWAY, JAMES – $90,507, Human Services
  • BORO, ROBERT THOMAS – $89,916,Transportation
  • HANLEY, BRION J – $89,863, State Police
  • PELLETIER, AMY ELISE – $89,837, State Police
  • MUSINSKI, ARTHUR A – $89,724, Human Services

Of the Human Services employees, Conway and Musinski are stationary engineers. Kinast is a Clinical Psychologist and Butzow is a pharmacist.

The IDOT folks are all engineers.

Message of the Day – Decrepit

Posted on by July 3, 2009
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There used to be a rundown house on west side of Route 47 near the intersection of Interstate 55 near Dwight.

My father used to see structures like this and observe that it was listed by Century 19, a play on Century 21.

When I was on my way to Bob Wargaski’s Pigapalooza May 3, I saw this farm building that certainly could be listed by the same real estate firm.

It was southwest of the intersection of North Darrell and West Case Roads.

Mr. Bo Jangles, Jr.

Posted on by July 2, 2009
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While I was searching for some old newspaper articles for a November 22nd article, I stumbled across two bits of memorabilia of no concern to anyone but myself.

I found this picture of me at age 6 in a multi-colored costume with saddle tap shoes. I’m even wearing a cap.

Goodness knows how my mother ever convinced me to take tap dancing lessons, but, come time for the recital, she had made an outfit in which I was to dance to “You Are My Sunshine” with other little boys in all probability.

My little sister Janet. age 4, was in the 1948 recital, too.

But she had a cuter outfit.

I was six.

First grade.

My classmate David Hill’s father owned Hill’s Pharmacy in downtown Easton, Maryland. His father called their home, south of my own on South Aurora Street, “Hill’s Half Acre.” It had a railroad spur running along the road to its north.

Catchy name for a home, I thought.

I even found a bit a cloth from what was left over from the original custume.

My wife will, of course, order a dumpster when I die.

There’s no secret about that.

Part 2 – The Highest Paid State Employees in McHenry County

Posted on by July 2, 2009
1

Yesterday, we showed you the twenty highest state employees living in McHenry County.

Today we look at the next twenty and we get under the $100,000 level.

The information originated in the Illinois State Comptroller’s Office and was put online in this descending format by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Here’s the next group of best paid people on the state payroll:

  • PELLETIER, MICHAEL – $123,530.00, Human Services
  • JENKNER, JAMES S – $120,688.62, State Toll Highway Authority
  • ANDREWS, DOUGLAS W – $118,903.09, Toll Highway Authority
  • PEREZ, JOSEPH M – $118,580.00, State Police
  • WOLFBERG, BRIAN L – $115,922.00, Revenue
  • O’CONNELL-DIAZ ERIN – $114,543.40, Commerce Commission
  • ANDRIAKOS, JAMES – $112,237.68, State Police
  • POWELL, LANCE J – $111,088.19, State Toll Highway Authority
  • LAMBBART, E – $110,277.00, State Police
  • ZIMMER, MARIANNE – $109,415.42, Children & Family Services
  • DAMASKY, TODD A – $107,891.48, State Police
  • WEAVER, MICHAEL ANTHONY – $107,876.88, Transportation
  • HOLT, CHRISTOPHER J – $107,608.22, Transportation
  • FANNING, MELINDA P – $106,470.70, State Police
  • BRZINSKI, LEONARD E – $105,857.83, State Police
  • SATKIEWICZ, ROBERT R – $105,726.52, State Police
  • WATTS, ROBERT A – $103,718.34, State Police
  • POWERS, DANIEL C – $100,665.50, Commerce Commission
  • GOEGLEIN, EUGENE T – $99,224.16, State Board Of Education
  • POLOVIN, ANDREW – a $98,372.79, Children & Family Services

It doesn’t take too much examination to figure out that if you’re not going to become a judge that the State Police side of law enforcement is next best. Most seem to be sergeants and many have “overtime” listed under the Post-Dispatch’s “details” button.

Eugene Goeglein is McHenry County’s Regional Superintendent of Education, an elected position.

Forbidden

Posted on by July 1, 2009
1

I seem to have posted something that someone in power in China doesn’t want its citizens reading.

It seems to have something to do with the following picture of a Vet-Teks truck and two drivers supplied by John Blanchard’s NASA Education.

Just two guys standing next to a truck in a story published May 1, 2008, entitled,

Forbidden

Your client does not have permission to get URL /imglanding?imgurl=http://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/uploaded_images/NASA-Ed-Vet-Tek-Truck-with-drivers-718441.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2008_05_01_mchenrycountyblog_archive.html&usg=__t88hHFsDfO76z04FykEeH0WikHE from this server. (Client IP address: 99.189.133.187)

Please see Google’s Terms of Service posted at http://www.google.com/terms_of_service.html

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My machine’s IP address is 10.20.30.40, but all of myFoo’s web traffic goes through some kind of proxy server whose IP address is 10.11.12.13.” (If you don’t know any information like this, that’s OK. But this kind of information can help us track down problems, so please tell us what you can.)

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Here’s where the attempt to access the picture came from (click to enlarge):

Anybody have any idea what’s going on?

Part 1 – The Highest Paid State Employees in McHenry County

Posted on by July 1, 2009
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The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a data base with those who get state paychecks.

The 2008 information is arrayed from highest to lowest. It comes straight from the State Comptroller’s Office.

I remember when this information was only supplied to the county chairmen of each party. It was distributed in paper form once a month. It was right there in the state statutes.

The better to find contributors and works, it’s my guess.

Let’s take a look at the top earners. The top twenty are below.

You’ll recognize a lot of judges in the list below. All of them will get a cost of living raise on July 1st.

  • HUTCHINSON, SUSAN F – $180,829.30, Judges Of Appellate Court
  • O’MALLEY, JOHN M – $180,829.30, Judges Of Appellate
  • CALDWELL, MICHAEL T – $165,434.17, Circuit Court Judges
  • CHMIEL, MICHAEL J – $165,434.172008Circuit Court Judges
  • CONDON, JOSEPH P – $165,434.17, Circuit Court Judges
  • MCINTYRE, MAUREEN P – $165,434.17, Circuit Court Judges
  • PRATHER, SHARON – $165,434.17, Circuit Court Judges
  • SULLIVAN, MICHAEL J – $165,434.17, Circuit Court Judges
  • WEECH, CHARLES P – $165,434.17, Circuit Court Judges
  • LUCHETTA, DONNA – $157,437.82, Department Of Human Services
  • BEADERSTADT, ROBERT – $157,137.61, Circuit Court Judges
  • BOLGER, JOHN D – $157,137.61, Circuit Court Judges
  • FEETTERER, MICHAEL W – $157,137.61, Circuit Court Judges
  • GRAHAM, GORDON E – $157,137.61, Circuit Court Judges
  • MANGIAMELE, SUZANNE – $157,137.61, Circuit Court Judges
  • MEYER, THOMAS A$157,137.612008Circuit Court JudgesMcHenryDetails WILBRANDT, ROBERT A$157,137.61, Circuit Court Judges
  • ZOPP, GERALD M – $157,137.61, Circuit Court Judges
  • COWLIN, JAMES S – $154,642.76, Circuit Court Judges
  • VEDAK, CHANDRAGUPTA – $137,002.70, Department Of Human Services

Message of the Day – A License Plate

Posted on by July 1, 2009
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Somehow it seems appropriate that this license plate,

NO TAX 1

should be seen driving around Crystal Lake.

This is, of course, an appropriate day to post it, since it has been one year since Mayor Aaron Shepley’s 75% city sales tax went into effect.

It was passed to benefit developers and to do the same thing that the Vulcan Lakes TIF project was supposed to do–turn Vulcan Lakes into a recreational area.

If the owner would like to pass a petition to abolish Home Rule government in Crystal Lake, which is what allowed the city council (with only Jeff Thorsen dissenting) to raise sales taxes 75%, email me. The address is way down at the bottom of the page on the right.

Biography of Cal Skinner, Sr. – Part 10 – Unsuccessful County Clerk Try, County Airport Fight, Wife’s Death

Posted on by February 16, 2010
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When Vernon Kays retired from being County Clerk, Dad ran for the office against Vernon’s Chief Deputy Rosemary Azzaro. Rosemary won, even winning at least one Crystal Lake Coventry precinct in which she knocked on doors. Dad didn’t do any door-to-door campaigning.

Two years later he was back on the county board.

In the 1980’s, the county board was bold enough to announce potential sites for ten or so county airports. What a way to engender opposition.

Tom Smrt, the owner of Fox Valley Systems in Cary took offense. He raised English Shires sought of Marengo on Route 20 next to the Tollway. He created the McHenry County Chronicle, which was mailed to at least all who voted Republican regularly. Every month. Smrt’s attacks on the county board led to Dad’s allies winning all four seats that were up that year.

In the fall of 1987, his wife Eleanor was killed in a truck-car accident at Route 14 and Dean Street Road. It took over ten years after that for a traffic signal to be installed.

Dad and Mom had been scheduled to go up to Mayo the next April. Dad didn’t go.

The night the summer drought was broken by a severe thunderstorm Dad had a county board meeting.

On Country Club Road almost to Crystal Springs Road, he ran into a tree branch. He hit his chest on the steering wheel. That might not have been so bad, but when he plowed into the big tree branch there was a young man trying to move it from the highway. Dad’s bumper crushed the Good Samaritan’s leg between his bumper and that of the young man.

About a year later he developed lung cancer where his chest was bruised. He had smoked cigarettes, then, a pipe, but had stopped maybe eight years before the cancer showed up.

It would have been caught early had Dad kept the appointment at Mayo, but, after Mother’s death he skipped it.

He ended up being treated at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. He and I lived with my sister Jan in a zip code in search of a town between Annapolis and Washington. The zip code was called Severn.

In December, Dr. Stevens would not release him when he had to leave in order to get back to McHenry County to vote for Ann Hughes for county board chairman. He didn’t think her opponent would be independent enough.

He signed himself out.

You see the photo of my wheeling him in for the crucial vote. Somehow he managed to retain his position as vice chairman, even though a deal had been cut to elect another man.

After Dad died in the summer of 1989, I executed his estate.

To do that I had to get his birth certificate.

To my surprise, I found that his middle name of “LeRoy” read “Leroy” on the birth certificate. Apparently he decided to capitalize the “R” at some point in his life. So, I’m not really a “junior” because my birth certificate reads “LeRoy.” I guess being a regular “Leroy” wasn’t fancy enough for him.

= = = = =
Earlier articles in this ten-part series can be found in the links below:

Biography of Calvin L Skinner – Part 1 – Second Son, School Years

Biography of Calvin L. Skinner – Part 2 – College, Marriage, First Jobs

Biography of Cal Skinner, Sr. – Part 3 – First House, Elected President of the Easton, Maryland, Town Council

Biography of Cal Skinner, Sr. – Part 4 – Storm Sewer Grates, Miles River Yacht Club, Slot Machines, Chesapeake Bay Bridge


Biography of Cal Skinner, Sr. – Part 5 – Switching Parties, Moving to Salt Lake City, Middletown and Crystal Lake


Biography of Cal L Skinner – Part 6 – The Early Crystal Lake Days, Dipping Feet Slowly into Political Arena

Biography of Cal Skinner, Sr. – Part 7 – Running for County Auditor, Precinct Committeeman, Calling the Meeting that Led to McHenry County College


Biography of Cal Skinner – Part 8 – The Star Reporter, Daughter Ellen Bored in High School, Prohibited from Attending MCC Classes

Biography of Cal L Skinner – Part 9 – Responsible Republicans’ Slate, County Board Reapportionment

Biography of Cal Skinner, Sr. – Part 10 – Unsuccessful County Clerk Try, County Airport Fight, Wife’s Death

Message of the Day – A License Plate

Posted on by June 30, 2009
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SHY.

That’s what this person’s license plate says.

I found it in Downtown Algonquin on Mother’s Day.

We ate at Port Edward. You see the baby bagels, lox and cream cheese, a delicacy I discover in the Wilder Hall basement Ratskeller at Oberlin College in 1960. Port Edward also had a whole salmon on the table seen above.

Biography of Cal L Skinner – Part 9 – Responsible Republicans’ Slate, County Board Reapportionment

Posted on by February 16, 2010
2

Prior to the 1972 elections, the United States Supreme Court ruled that legislative bodies like the McHenry County Board and city councils had to be apportioned on a one-man, one-vote basis.

The county board divided the county into three districts, Dad’s consisting of Algonquin and Grafton Townships.

Dad didn’t like the way the districts had been apportioned and challenged it acting as his owner lawyer in Federal Court.

Because the district lines Dad came up resulted in more closely matched populations and were at least as compact as the county’s the judge told McHenry County State’s Attorney to discuss a settlement with Dad.

State’s Attorney Bill Cowlin did not do so before the next scheduled court date.

When both showed up before the judge, Dad told the judge that Cowlin hadn’t gotten in touch with him.

The Federal judge then ordered him to do so before returning for the next hearing.

Dad didn’t get exactly what he asked for, but the county board members came up with a much more acceptable map. Algonquin and Grafton Townships were put in District 1, one-third of the county’s population.

Dad and his allies put together a slate, which they called “Responsible Republicans.” They made the ballot order so they could tell people to vote from “Bick to Burns.” (John Bick, an older conservative and 10-acre tree farmer from Barrington Hills; Brad Burns, my to-be brother-in-law, from Crystal Lake’s Coventry.)

The regular Republicans won all eight seats up in 1972, but my father got more votes than any other county board member running in Districts Two and Three.

The next time Dad ran, he and his ally Lou Anne Majewski won. Lou Anne got more votes, helping validate my theory that women have an automatic advantage when they run for office.

McHenry County Courthouse, build with non-referndum Public Building Commission bonds.

I remember on serious disagreement we had. When an addition was being built on the new courthouse, he voted to let the Public Building Commission issue bonds without a referendum.

I reminded him that he had campaigned against similar action when the new courthouse had been constructed.

More tomorrow. You can read earlier articles by looking at early days of McHenry County Blog or linking below:

Biography of Calvin L Skinner – Part 1 – Second Son, School Years

Biography of Calvin L. Skinner – Part 2 – College, Marriage, First Jobs

Biography of Cal Skinner, Sr. – Part 3 – First House, Elected President of the Easton, Maryland, Town Council

Biography of Cal Skinner, Sr. – Part 4 – Storm Sewer Grates, Miles River Yacht Club, Slot Machines, Chesapeake Bay Bridge


Biography of Cal Skinner, Sr. – Part 5 – Switching Parties, Moving to Salt Lake City, Middletown and Crystal Lake


Biography of Cal L Skinner – Part 6 – The Early Crystal Lake Days, Dipping Feet Slowly into Political Arena

Biography of Cal Skinner, Sr. – Part 7 – Running for County Auditor, Precinct Committeeman, Calling the Meeting that Led to McHenry County College


Biography of Cal Skinner – Part 8 – The Star Reporter, Daughter Ellen Bored in High School, Prohibited from Attending MCC Classes

Biography of Cal L Skinner – Part 9 – Responsible Republicans’ Slate, County Board Reapportionment

Biography of Cal Skinner, Sr. – Part 10 – Unsuccessful County Clerk Try, County Airport Fight, Wife’s Death

Where Is Today’s Bernie Pedersen?

Posted on by June 29, 2009
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When Governor Jim Thompson set about raising taxes 40%, State Rep. Bernie Pedersen (R-Palatine) was a leader in the fight to kill the effort.

Where is today’s Bernie Pedersen?

Who is the back bencher putting pressure on on Tom Cross and Christine Radogno not to cave in?

Probably time to call your legislators.

The main switchboard in Springfield is 217-782-2000,

Message of the Day – A Bumper Sticker

Posted on by June 29, 2009
Reply

I had to check and see if I had posted this message before and, guess what, I found I had.

But it was on a tee shirt I saw at Disney World in 2006.

got Jesus?

Obviously a take off on

GOT MILK?

First I found it close-up.

When were driving home from the Old Capitol Art Fair, I saw it on a Wisconsin car headed toward Chicago on the Northwest Tollway.

The image of the bumper sticker is fuzzy, but that’s probably appropriate since lots of us have some trouble understanding His message.

= = = = =
The picture of the Old Capitol Art Fair in mid-May was taken from the southeast side of the Old State Capitol. The metal palm trees are certainly fascinating.

Gambling Court

Posted on by June 29, 2009
Reply

This year, State Rep. Mike Tryon (R-Crystal Lake) followed up on an idea that my former legislative assistant Pete Castillo originated while working for the Illinois Department of Employment Security getting jobs for homeless and other unemployed veterans:

Pete’s idea was a veterans court, similar to the mental health court instituted by McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi and Judge Charles Weech.

It’s over two years old now.

And, here’s an idea that is only slightly ahead of its time in Illinois:

Illinois is going to have a lot of problems with people being addicted. Even with a casino down the Fox River in Elgin, I remember a story about a McHenry County Sheriff’s deputy having been arrested for stealing from the department’s evidence room.

Message of the Day – Blood

Posted on by June 28, 2009
Reply

Right before I was scheduled to give a pint of blood at Heartland Blood Center, I saw the front page of the Elgin Courier-News.

Screaming in a blood-red headline was the word

BLOOD

It was a story about mosquitoes and West Nile disease.

The more benign use of blood gets stuck on donors’ chests as their blood drips into a plastic bag.

There is undoubtedly a summer shortage as people go on vacation. Give Heartland a call at 1-800-7TO-GIVE and schedule an appointment. There an office near Hobby Lobby in Crystal Lake.

Legislature Rewards Chicago State University’s 16% Graduation Rate (after 6 Years!) with New $40 Million West Side Campus

Posted on by June 27, 2009
1

Sometimes you have to connect the dots.

This time it’s about what capital spending is being voted on in Illinois and what it is rewarding.

A USA Today story highlighted Chicago State University’s 16% graduation rate after six years.

Only 4% after four years, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Not exactly a model to be emulated.

But reward Chicago State the General Assembly did.

It got $40 million in the new capital bill to build a new campus on the West Side of Chicago.

Some might think that a university that manages to graduate only 16% of its students in six years might not be one deserving of cloning.

Why not clone Northeastern Illinois University? It’s 19% graduation rate was slightly better.

How about much more successful Northern Illinois University, It came in at a 52% graduation rate after six years.

You have to wonder how prepared the students are who are being accepted to these schools.

Chicago State’s and Northeastern’s numbers really raise serious questions.

For reference, Northwestern’s graduation rate is 93%, while University of Chicago is 90%.

University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign has a 82% graduation rate after six years.

Your federal fiscal stimulus money has $1.1 million dollars going to Chicago State. It is part of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008.

Is this anyone’s idea of “building upon success?”

Or is it “throwing good money after bad?”

In 2007 then Chicago State University President Elnora Daniel had to reimburse the university more than $8,600. But only after a state audit criticized spending practices at the university.

President Elnora Daniel explained at a press conference how she mistakenly used the university-issued card instead of her personal card. The explanation was she forgot to change purses or was in a rush at a store.

Daniel’s salary was $241,000 and the Chicago Tribune reported,
“In August 2006, Daniel and her family spent nine days on a Caribbean cruise, as Daniel attended a leadership conference, at a cost of more than $15,000.”

The trustees allowed a provision in her contract for this cruise to be legally paid for by the taxpayers of Illinois.

The trustees just hired Wayne Watson, the retiring head of Chicago’s junior college system, to be Chicago State’s new president a $229,166.

When you hear Democrats say,

“We have to fund education”

at least you have some idea of what that means in Illinois.