Results tagged “alexigiannoulias”

The State of Illinois has many duties, but perhaps their most interesting one is getting to open forgotten safe deposits boxes. State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias’ office is in charge of the procedure and this past year ending in June, they inventoried 5,142 new boxes. Fortunately, 1,476 of those boxes were returned to their rightful owner. When they’ve been untouched for five years, banks turn over boxes to the state, and the names of box-holders are published in newspapers.

The Chicago Tribune's investigation into the University of Illinois has now reached State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias. Giannoulias' adviser Endy Zemenides allegedly helped get a student off the wait list and into school and in turn, a Greek Orthodox priest, a family friend of the student who had reached out to Zemenides, held a fundraiser for Giannoulias that earned over $120,000. Giannoulias is currently eyeballing a run at Sen. Roland Burris' senate seat. His campaign distanced Giannoulias from the student, saying he knew nothing of the request, and Giannoulias has not been connected to any other student on the list.

While the Republicans are beginning to sort out their candidates for the 2010 governor's race, the nation's top Democrat is starting to help state Dems sort out who's running for what, including Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Though Madigan has long been rumored as a serious candidate for governor, it seems President Obama is trying to push Madigan into next year's senate race - for the seat Obama once occupied and is now occupied by embattled Sen. Roland Burris - in an attempt to take on Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk. The Sun-Times' Laura Washington has more.

2010 is shaping up to be a free-for-all for the U.S. Senate seat that Roland Burris is currently keeping warm in Washington. But, finally, a politician has come out and said she will not run for the U.S. Senate: U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (who had way better seats at the Inauguration than we did). Instead, Schakowsky plans to run to keep her current U.S. House seat. She released a statement that said, in part, "I think the next two years present a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make progressive change. I want to devote my energy to help make these things a reality, and decided that I simply couldn't do it if I mounted a campaign for Senate."

2010 may be a wild election year in Illinois. That is, if anyone can make up their minds about what they want to do. 7th District Congressman Danny Davis hopes Roland Burris will make up his mind already about running for re-election. Davis told Chicago Public Radio on Monday that Burris's decision will affect his decision about whether to run for Senate next year. "That would play seriously in the thinking of any African American who may be interested," he said. "I'm hoping that the senator will hurry up and publicly let people know whether he intends to run for election." Well, we already know how Burris is leaning.

The Doomsday Clock for Roland "The Lord's Senator" Burris just clicked closer to midnight. A recently released Zogby International poll [.pdf] shows that support for Burris in the 2010 senatorial race stands tall at 5.3 percent. In most elections, we're pretty sure Snoopy gets more voter support than that. Alexi Giannoulias is the frontrunner in the senate race with both Dems and independent voters - although Giannoulias leads with independent voters by only 0.3% over Mark Kirk.

There is evidence that Roland Burris does not have plans to quietly go away at the end of his appointed term. A barely assembled website with the URL http://supportburris.com emerged yesterday with the banner "Roland Burris for U.S. Senate - Support Roland Burris in 2010." The site also includes an option for visitors to donate money. This morning, the site has more meat to it and while Burris has issued no public statement about the website or 2010, his staff confirmed the website was, indeed, legit. So now that we know Burris is gunning for 2010, who will he face? We've heard before he could be up against Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky in the Democratic primary. But another name emerged yesterday that makes things a little more interesting.

Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias issued a statement a short while ago, commenting on the appointment of Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Gov. Blagojevich's actions today demonstrate an even greater need for the General Assembly to move quickly with impeachment proceedings and remove him from office. The question here is not whether Roland Burris would make a good Senator. The question is whether Blagojevich should have the right to make the appointment. Regardless of whether he wanted to appoint Mother Theresa or Abraham Lincoln, I believe Blagojevich lost that right when he allegedly attempted to sell the Senate seat to the highest bidder. He abused his power and should lose his appointment power. Because of Blagojevich's actions, the appointment process has been tainted and will continue to be tainted as long as he holds office. In the best interest of the people of Illinois, I encourage Secretary of State White to refuse to certify the appointment.

Ever been to a pawn shop? Ever hocked an old ring or a bracelet? The State of Illinois is essentially doing the same thing starting on Sunday, and your grandma's abandoned property is what's up for grabs. The treasurer's office is using their digital presence on the World's Biggest Swap Meet to bring in some extra cash for the holidays, and you too can be a part of it.

Our Esteemed Governor, Rod Blagojevich, has announced a press conference this afternoon to discuss the possibility of a commission to discuss who might possibly take over for YESHECAN when he takes office in January. Rather than handicap all the possibilities for the vacant seat, here's a quick list of "maybes" and we'll leave it to you to virtually wager your digital matchsticks or Halloween candy miniatures on who's going to get the nod. Here's some of the people who've been mentioned:

With Illinois still waterlogged from the heavy rains this weekend, Attorney General Lisa Madigan warned consumers to be on the look-out for home repair con-artists ready to prey on flooded residents. "Far too often, we see man-made disasters follow natural disasters. Scam artists know how to take advantage of the aftermath of major storms and persuade people to make snap decisions for repairing their homes or businesses," Madigan said. Madigan encouraged consumers to check out the Attorney General's Consumer Fraud Hotline, where they can find out how many consumer complaints, if any, have been filed against a contractor. She also reminded Illinois residents that the Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act requires written contracts for any work costing more that $1,000.

While several of his rivals have been given speaking engagements at next week's Democratic National Convention in Denver, it seems there's no room for Governor Blagojevich on stage. We already know Mayor Mumbles is speaking and new speakers recently added to list include state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, Comptroller Dan Hynes, and Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan. But is Balgo's exclusion that big of a surprise? Given that Obama's campaign gets final say-so in choosing speakers, it shouldn't come as a shock, in spite of Obama and G-Rod's former ties (coughRezkocough).

She's the woman who could have been Governor. But in 2006, Judy Baar Topinka, longtime Illinois politician and State Treasurer under Jim Edgar and the not-convicted-yet George Ryan, was defeated in the Gubernatorial race by incumbent Rod Blagojevich. And just look where that's gotten us. While most of our day-to-day political thoughts right now are focused on the presidential election, we're also in the beginning of the race for Illinois Governor in 2010. So what does Topinka think about how the state is being run? No surprise here - she isn't much of a fan of Blago - but what about beyond that? Who's going to step up for the Republican party in two years? Who's going to try to replace G-Rod in the Democratic party? And is there any shot at getting him removed before 2010? All these answers after the jump.

Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias wants federal prosecutors to look into what he claims is a scheme by a GOP powerbroker to scam millions of dollars from the state of Illinois. According to Giannoulias, Republican lobbyist Bill Cellini crafted a deal in the 1980s with then-governor Jim Thompson to secure a $15 million loan from the state to build and buy the Ramada Renaissance in Springfield, which later became the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel and Conference Center. The loan stipulated that the owners wouldn't have to repay the state-funded mortgage until they turned a profit.

Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias announced yesterday that the state is getting out of the loan business. On Monday, Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Patrick J. Londrigan signed the foreclosure order on the Abraham Lincoln Hotel and Convention Center, the first step in removing ownership from the politically connected powerbroker Bill Cellini. Although the owners quickly fell behind on payments, the loan was restructured in 1990, ensuring that the owners didn't have to repay the loan as long as the hotel didn't turn a profit. As a result, only two payments have been made on the loan in the last ten years.

at the Hyatt Regency Ballroom. Because who wants to shake hands in a cold Iowa parking lot when you can kick it at the Hyatt in Chicago?

Here are some things in the news while we do spit takes at the ticket prices for the upcoming Van Halen tour. A $300-a-year parking permit created for realtors, home health care providers, and social workers to plug a $2.4 million hole in the city's 2007 budget only generated $15,900 in revenue. Facing increasing criticism in allowing BP to increase the amount of pollution it can discharge into Lake Michigan, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels...

Well, another week has descended upon the city by the lake, and the politicians, like the rest of us, are frolicking in this wonderful spring weather like cowboys at the beach. Let's take all the newsy tidbits that came across our desk this week and rustle them up, like the spring cattle they want to be. Who knows? Maybe one of these stories will fatten up into a vitriol-filled post we can use as a...

The primary election results are in, and here are some of the candidates you will see on the ballot in the November election: Governor-Democrat: Rod Blagojevich (70.1%) This was no surprise since Eisendrath never seemed to get his campaign off the ground. We know a lot of people who voted Eisendrath as part of showing their disapproval towards Blago. Governor-Republican: Judy Baar Topinka (38.0%) Topinka held off a late surge from Oberweis, who early on...

In case you missed it last night, the big awards show was incredible. No, not that awards show. We’re talking about the awards Chicagoist gave out to politicians for outstanding achievement in campaign commercials—The Campaignys. Because none of the nominees were present, the members of the Academy of Campaign Commercial Arts and Sciences accepted their awards (cans of Sparks, a drink near and dear to our blood alcohol levels) and drank them on their behalf....