Governor Rod Blagojevich called on lawmakers yesterday to return to Springfield August 12 and 13 for a special session to work on the state's spending. Blago doesn't expect lawmakers to deal with his recent budget cuts, however. “Unless they find the funding, there’s nothing much more to do with the budget,” said Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero. Instead, he wants them to address the state's need for both an education funding plan and a capital spending......

Just in case you haven't seen it yet today, this. is. awesome. And it's not even Photoshop Phriday! Hey, Sun-Times - who put this cover (that's John Wayne under that Blagojevich face, btw) together? Give that person a raise. Who else could you Photoshop the Governor as? Mighty Mouse? Opie? Governor LePetomaine? Forrest Gump? A Blago v. Daley Spy vs. Spy poster? The possibilities are endless. Man, we wish we had better 'shopping skills. Alas.......

While most other Illinois pols were using the Independence Day holiday to watch fireworks with their constituents, Blagojevich had some bombs for reporters. When asked whether he was the target of a federal corruption probe, the governor responded by calling questions about the matter “ridiculous,” “absurd” and “stupid.” At what was supposed to be a slam-dunk press conference about Illinois getting tough with gas-pump inspections (huh?), he chastised the press, accusing them of sensationalizing Tony......

One of the persistent questions that political observers have wrestled with about Tony Rezko is when (and if) he will roll on Governor Blagojevich and others now that he has been convicted. Will he cut a deal to get a shorter prison sentence, or will he do his time and hope that his friends will reward his loyalty when he gets out? Rezko answered that question in part in a letter he sent to Judge......

Who knows? Could anyone have predicted the mess that happened last spring? It seems that this time around Governor Blagojevich might not be as interested in strutting his testicular virility by getting into a huge pissing match with legislators. The General Assembly sent the governor a budget over the weekend, but he's not happy. Threatening a veto, he said that the budget is “out of balance, out of whack,” at a press conference yesterday afternoon,......

Lawmakers in Springfield expressed confidence they would have a state budget for the coming fiscal year yesterday, as the General Assembly began sending pieces of the budget to Blagojevich for approval yesterday. If the votes are any indication, it looks like state legislators are on track to finalize the budget before Saturday's deadline - avoiding another overtime session like last year's. "The real deal is coming sooner than later," said Chicago Democrat Sen. Donne Trotter......

Imagine a job where you only had to work for 8 weeks, and that short stint would net you almost $38,000 a year from the day you retire all the way until you're six feet under. Former state Senator Carol Ronen got that dream gig -- she worked as an adviser in Governor Blagojevich's office for a mere two months, and that time will boost her pension by 35% to $102,000 a year. As if......

At a press event on the West side yesterday, Rob Blagojevich responded to reporters questions about his role in the federal investigation of Tony Rezko. When asked if he thought he might be the next target of federal prosecutors, the governor replied “as I've said before, I'm not going to answer stupid questions like that." His response elicited applause from his audience, mostly ex-offenders that have benefited from state-sponsored anti-recidivism programs. The governor was meet......

Governor Blagojevich unveiled a $150 million antiviolence initiative today: Community Investment Works. The plan, whose funding sources remain TBA, will "address several key factors contributing to youth violence in Illinois, including the lack of employment opportunities, lack of safe social opportunities, and disengagement from the community." Parts of CIW include: 20,000 more jobs for summer youth employment in "community development and beautification" areas Grants for after-school and evening-hour programs, including night basketball, mentoring, tutoring, and......

The Illinois House voted 105-0 yesterday to order the chief auditor to investigate how the Blagojevich administration apparently gave $1 million to the wrong organization. Instead of going to the Pilgrim Baptist Church to help rebuild their school after a fire, the money went to Loop Lab School, which had been using Pilgrim Baptist facilities before the fire but isn't affiliated with the church. Blagojevich and his staff have been extremely tight-lipped on the debacle,......

It's not just bags of cash that Ali Ata knew about. In testimony during Tony Rezko's federal fraud trial yesterday, Ata told jurors that he donated $25K to Blagojevich's campaign in 2002, dropping the check off at Rezko's office. He was then led into a conference room where the governor, his campaign manager Lon Monk, top fundraiser Chris Kelly and state Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Collonsville) were waiting. According to Ata, Rezko explained to the governor......

With his enemies waiting in the wings, and federal prosecutors seemingly closing in, now seems like as good a time as any to start our Rod Blagojevich Political Death Pool. In the comments below, write the date you think Blago will go down and why. The person who gets closest to the actual date and reason will win one of our super sexy Chicagoist t-shirts, available for purchase right here. Good ways the governor might......

As if the allegations against Rod Blagojevich couldn't get more sensational in the Tony Rezko trial, prosecutors told judge Amy St Eve yesterday that Ali Ata, the former executive director of the Illinois Finance Authority, will testify that he helped deliver "black plastic bags" of cash to prevent contractors from putting a lien on Blago's home. Prosecutors are expected to lead Ata through testimony that he took $125,000 out of a safe, giving $20K to......

The pressure on the beleaguered Illinois Governor cranked up a notch this weekend, as State Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago) told CBS2 Chicago that the Illinois House should begin preparing for impeachment proceedings. "Creating a committee to decide if impeachment is warranted is such a reasonable premise that there would be overwhelming support in the House," Fritchey said. Fritchey is concerned that, given recent revelations in Tony Rezko's fraud trial that Ali Ata traded thousands of......

Amid heated debate and personal invective, the proposed recall amendment stalled in the state senate yesterday. Rep. Jack Franks, the House Democrat who drafted the bill, said that it was aimed at Blagojevich. "I wouldn't have drafted it if I thought things were going well," Franks said. Along with Franks, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn, who supports recall, urged senators to pass the bill before May 4, the deadline to get the amendment before voters on......

Lt Governor Pat Quinn called on Rod Blagojevich to "rock the system" this weekend by leading the fight to pass a recall amendment to the state constitution. "If you really want to rock the system and end business as usual, recall is the ultimate weapon," said Quinn in a statement to the press. "Governor Blagojevich has long said that he joins me in supporting the voters' right to recall unfit, inept or dishonest elected officials.......

Cartoon for Chicagoist by Tim Daly......

Just when you thought we might get a break from the feuding downstate, the drama gets weirder. A bill passed the Illinois House yesterday, 80-25, that would give voters the right to recall elected officials including the governor, a la California. (.pdf of the bill here.) The recall election would work much like California's recall provision, asking voters if the office holder should be recalled while voting on a successor at the same time. Woodstock......

Photo by Joshua Mellin "'I don’t know why more banks don’t have security guards,' [bank robber] Renell Baker says." [AP] So...we guess you do have to be insane to like Blagojevich. [Cheap Shot Posse] Let's build a fort. [Hybrid Heart, via By So and So] Congressman Bobby Rush, D-Chicago, is recovering from surgery to remove a cancerous tumor on his salivary gland. [release] Dance pioneer Gus Giordano died Sunday. He was 84. [Trib] What......

Last week's announced plan from Governor Blagojevich to tear down Cole Hall has been met with great backlash amongst state lawmakers, NIU staff and students. An email sent yesterday from Northern Illinois University President John Peters to students and faculty put a hold on the Governor’s plan and called for campus-wide discourse regarding the fate of the 40-year-old building. Peters said the future of Cole Hall should “represent a consensus opinion” of the university......

Photo by The New No.2 Governor Blagojevich promised $1 million to help rebuild Pilgrim Baptist Church after it burned down in 2006. But church officials say they haven't seen a dime, and even Blago's office admits the money went to an unrelated school that rented space from the church. They were sticking with that story until other local politicians jumped in to call Blago a liar and an opportunist, at which point our governor......

Cartoon for Chicagoist by Tim Daly......

To the surprise of absolutely nobody in the entire state, Governor Rod Blagojevich denied any wrongdoing in the Tony Rezko trial at a press conference held Wednesday to announce the demolition of the hall where the NIU shootings occurred. Blagojevich denied that he is the Public Official A cited in the federal indictment against Tony Rezko. "It doesn't matter what letter of the alphabet it is. What was described there doesn't describe me or how......

Eric Hanson has been sentenced to death for killing his sister, parents and brother-in-law. His surviving sister testified against him during his recently concluded trial, and yesterday a jury took only 90 minutes to return its verdict in favor of execution. Hanson was convicted of beating his sister and brother-in-law to death in their Aurora home after his sister discovered he stole $140,000 from their parents. He then drove to his parents' home in Naperville......

Governor Blagojevich will announce at a news conference this afternoon that NIU is going to demolish Cole Hall, the building where the February 14th deadly shooting spree took place. Cole Hall will be closed for the rest of the semester and will be knocked down this spring, with construction on the new Memorial Hall to be completed by the 2010 school year. [Northern Star, Trib]......

From U.S. District Court Judge Amy St. Eve's recent ruling in the Rezko case.... Rezko responded that a $50,000 contribution to Governor Blagojevich would help his brother’s chances of the board appointment. Rezko and Joseph Cacciatore allegedly agreed that Joseph Cacciatore would contribute $25,000 to the campaign and Rezmar – one of Rezko’s companies – would contribute the other $25,000 on behalf of Cacciatore. In approximately February 2004, Rezko recommended Phil Cacciatore for the Illinois......

To the shock of absolutely no one, Governor Blagojevich was officially identified as Public Official A today in the documents pertaining to Tony Rezko's prosecution. A nine-page ruling from U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve confirmed what Blago has repeatedly denied.......

NIU classes resumed today after a vigil last night drew 10,000 people from the university and beyond, including Governor Blagojevich, Senators Dick Durbin and Barack Obama, and secretary of the department of health and human services Michael Leavitt. Eddie Williams, NIU's executive vice president of finance and facilities, said at last night's service, "We will not let darkness alter or extinguish our light. Forward, together forward, our light will shine forever more." "Forward, together forward,"......

While the talk around town has focused on the implications of Tony Rezko's indictment for Blagojevich, the national story has been how close he was to Obama. Although they first met in 1990, when Rezko offered Obama a job, it wasn't until 1995 that Obama worked with the developer. Obama was working for Davis Miner Barnhill, a Chicago law firm that represents developers who build low-income housing with government funds. In 1995, Obama worked on......

Tony Rezko's rise to power in state politics didn't happen overnight. When got started as a strong advocate of grassroots Arab-American activism in Chicago and was often the largest contributor to Arab-American campaigns. But several years ago, Rezko’s name started showing up on campaign disclosure forms for prominent politicians in Chicago, Cook County and the state. He raised money for John Stroger, Mayor Daley, countless aldermen, and governors. In October 2000, Stroger introduced a resolution......