southtownstar.suntimes.com

Kadner: County finds funds for inmate care

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:50:26 -0500

There’s great news from Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. The county has opened a $90 million medical center for county jail inmates who are drug addicts. Stories about the new facility last week didn’t mention the closing of the county’s Oak Forest Hospital, 159th Street and Cicero Avenue, to cut costs two years ago. Also overlooked was Cook County’s decision to break a pledge to replace the hospital with an Oak Forest Medical Center that would include an immediate care facility open 24 hours a day. When I called county Commissioner Deborah Sims (D-Chicago) about a decision to cut …

Kadner: The secret lives of our fathers

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 02:17:32 -0500

During my father’s final days of life, we talked a lot about his youth. He didn’t seem to remember much about the birth of his sons, their formative years or his 40 years of marriage. I figured it was Alzheimer’s disease. I had read that people suffering from the illness often had better memories of the long ago than the recent past. But looking at some photographs recently got me to wondering about those final talks and how little that children really know their fathers. The photographs, recovered by a family member cleaning house, show a smiling, vibrant young fellow …

Kadner: Rita says casino cash should pay for building projects

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 18:14:55 -0500

Any legislation expanding gambling in Illinois likely will include a mandate that revenue-sharing funds from a south suburban casino be earmarked for development projects only, according to the bill’s chief sponsor in the House. “I don’t want to see communities using that money to hire new administrators or using it for operating expenses,” state Rep. Robert Rita (D-Blue Island) said. “I would like to see the money invested in buildings, bridges, street improvements or repairing water mains, improvements in things people can see. I want them to see how the money is being used.” During an interview this week in …

Kadner: Second mayor seeks inspector general

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:15:55 -0500

The mayor of Hazel Crest has asked the Cook County sheriff to appoint an inspector general to examine the financial records of the village. Hazel Crest joins Dolton as the second south suburb to ask Sheriff Tom Dart for such assistance. Dolton, facing bankruptcy, passed an ordinance this month creating the office of inspector general, a post that will be filled by a member of Dart’s staff. Hazel Crest Mayor Vernard Alsberry Jr., elected in April, said he discovered upon taking office that several village employees had received large pay raises earlier this year. “The village manager received an 11 …

Kadner: County cuts Oak Forest medical care

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:35:00 -0500

Two years after closing Oak Forest Hospital, Cook County is backing away from its pledge to provide 24-hour patient care at a health clinic it established on the site. The Cook County Health and Hospitals System has notified the state that it is temporarily suspending patient services from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. because three doctors have left and the number of patients at that time of day has been low. “I am disappointed,” said state Rep. Will Davis (D-Hazel Crest). “They appear to be walking away from a pledge that was made, without notifying any elected officials in the …

Kadner: Kelly calls for local input on airport

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 23:37:36 -0500

U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-2nd) said Monday she wants the Legislature to pass a law giving local communities a “decision-making role” in the development of the South Suburban Airport. Kelly said she has talked to several legislators from the Southland and asked them to present such a measure in the fall veto session of the General Assembly. She also urged lawmakers to create a development district “to shape economic development around the airport and protect those communities’ interests.” Mayors representing the so-called “iron ring” communities of Peotone, Crete, Beecher and Monee, which surround the airport site, have called for the …

Kadner: The greatest show in Illinois

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 17:51:40 -0500

Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, the Lincoln Sideshow and Carnival is pleased to offer the public one of the greatest spectacles on earth. I’m talking about a political creature that has confounded the greatest academic minds in the history of Illinois. Strong-willed men have boldly strode into this tent behind me only to slither out on their bellies, whimpering in fear and confusion, A few years ago, a lawyer feller with a wonderful head of black hair cast his eyes on what you are about to see and turned gray. He was last seen babbling lines from a Rudyard …

Kadner: Do you want security or freedom?

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 02:17:35 -0500

The Internal Revenue Service harasses political enemies, the National Security Agency subpoenas millions of telephone records from Verizon, wire service reporters are targeted to discover who leaked government secrets. You’ve got to wonder how bad things would be if a constitutional law scholar weren’t sitting in the White House. Any student of history could predict that this sort of thing would happen after the Patriot Act was passed following the 2001 terrorist attacks. You give a government practically unlimited authority to conduct secret surveillance of civilians and eventually it will use it. It’s human nature. As England’s Lord Acton once …

Kadner: Quinn vows to make airport happen

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 22:00:54 -0500

A joyful Gov. Pat Quinn said his slogan for a new state-controlled airport is “Where job creation takes flight” and announced that it officially will be called the South Suburban Airport. “We’re going to make this happen,” the governor boasted. During a telephone conversation on Wednesday, Quinn said the “stars aligned” last week to pass breakthrough legislation that gives the Illinois Department of Transportation governing authority to create a pubic-private partnership to build and operate what used to be known as the Peotone or Abraham Lincoln National Airport. Quinn said he made it clear months ago to warring political leaders …

Kadner: Gambling hot potato burns Robert Rita

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 17:37:57 -0500

With 11 days left in the spring legislative session, state Rep. Robert Rita (D-Blue Island) was handed sponsorship of one of the hottest bills in Illinois. “I did my best to be fair to everyone, to learn the issues, to come up with the best possible gambling bill,” Rita said Tuesday. But he learned that when it comes to casino expansion, everyone wants a piece of the action. “Every piece (of the legislation) that you change has an impact on all the other pieces,” Rita said. “In the end, I decided it was best to kill it, hold hearings over …

Kadner: A win for Southland in Springfield

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 11:36:17 -0500

While the recent state legislative session was viewed as a dismal failure by many Springfield observers, it produced two big economic initiatives for the Southland. In addition to allocating $71 million for the purchase of land and naming the Illinois Department of Transportation as the governing authority for a south suburban airport, a South Suburban Brownfield Redevelopment Zone was created. The redevelopment zone is designed to spur economic growth around intermodal terminals owned by the Canadian National and Union Pacific railroads in Harvey and Dolton. The zone includes those towns plus Dixmoor, East Hazel Crest, Hazel Crest, Homewood, Markham, Phoenix, …

Kadner: Suburbs need an inspector general

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 15:31:08 -0500

Incompetence is costing taxpayers more money than corruption in some south suburbs, although it’s often difficult to tell where one begins and the other takes over. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart on Friday announced an inspector general for Dolton, which is close to financial collapse. There is no agency that has oversight authority over municipalities unless there is some proof of unlawful conduct. By the time such evidence is available, it is often too late, and millions of dollars have disappeared without a paper trail or been otherwise misspent. “It is incompetence,” said Dart, who has expanded the powers of …

Kadner: Quinn behind move on third airport

Fri, 31 May 2013 10:38:36 -0500

After 40 years of double dealing, backstabbing, bickering, inertia and gross negligence, it looks like a south suburban airport might actually get built. Gov. Pat Quinn apparently has brokered a deal that would allow the Illinois Department of Transportation to become the development authority for the planned airport near Peotone. The legislation authorizing IDOT to form a public-private partnership to build the third airport, introduced in the Illinois House on Thursday, contains pork barrel projects for nearly ever section of Illinois. For Chicago, there’s authority for expanded development around McCormick Place, including a basketball arena; a fertilizer plant for downstate …

Kadner: Rita rips roadblocks on casino bill

Thu, 30 May 2013 22:24:37 -0500

State Rep. Bobby Rita (D-Blue Island) has become the key power broker in an effort to pass a gambling expansion bill that would create five new casinos in Illinois and likely place video gambling at racetracks and airports. Rita, an Eisenhower High School graduate, might seem like an odd choice to some, but he has demonstrated loyalty to House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) while consolidating his power base as the Democratic committeeman of Calumet Township. After 10 years in office, Rita is vice chairman of the powerful House Executive Committee, where most controversial bills end up, and chairs two other …

Kadner: Dolton avoids shutdown, for now

Wed, 29 May 2013 02:11:24 -0500

Facing the possibility that Dolton might not be able to meet its payroll Friday and have to shut down operations, the village board approved a $1 million loan during an emergency meeting Tuesday morning. Dolton is “swimming in red ink and on the verge of bankruptcy,” transitional village administrator Clem Balanoff warned the trustees. Balanoff told me that last week the village had as little as $25,000 in its bank account to meet a $340,000 payroll this week. Money has since poured in from several sources, bringing the account to more than $200,000. But in addition to the payroll coming …

Kadner: Money woes in struggling Dolton

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 11:20:26 -0500

Newly elected Dolton Mayor Riley Rogers on Friday assured elderly residents that they would be allowed to live at the Dorchester Senior Center for the rest of his four-year term. But while the village owns the building, it’s running out of money to maintain it. Rogers’ announcement came as a surprise because another newspaper had reported that he planned to close the apartment building. The new mayor discovered upon taking office this month that Dolton has massive debt, according to a source. The word “bankruptcy” was mentioned to me, but no one would talk about that on the record. And …

Kadner: Reader donations create happy faces

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:25:40 -0500

It’s the faces you remember after visiting a center for the developmentally disabled. Smiling faces of folks who anxiously reach out to shake hands. Questioning faces that wonder if a sister is coming to pick them up or if you’re driving them home. And you especially remember the face of a fellow who hugs tightly onto a pile of stuffed animals as if their lives depend on him. Garden Center Services for the developmentally disabled held an open house this week at its new training center at 10444 Kedzie Ave., in Chicago’s Mount Greenwood community. About a month ago, I …

Kadner: New mayor offers ‘hope’ to The Island

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:09:03 -0500

His grandmother walked across the Mexican border all the way to Blue Island nearly 100 years ago. Having arrived, she lived in a box car in the Rock Island Railroad yard for years. Today, Domingo Vargas, her grandson, is a defense attorney and the first Hispanic mayor of Blue Island. “My maternal great-grandmother died on a roadside after crossing the border with her children during the Mexican War,” Vargas, 51, said. “They buried her there and kept on walking. My grandmother was about 14 or 15 years old at the time. “They crossed the border and kept on walking until …