Dec. 26, 2015

Sauk Valley Media

Crundwell saga nears its final chapter

2015 may well mark a major turning point in the saga of Rita Crundwell and the shadow the thieving ex-Dixon comptroller cast over the Petunia City.

For the previous 3 years, Crundwell’s theft of nearly $54 million over a 2-decade span, and its many ramifications, dominated Sauk Valley Media’s year-end local news package.

Here is how Crundwell’s shocking larceny dominated the news.

No. 1 story in 2012: “Stealing headlines: Longtime Dixon comptroller’s theft from city over two decades was top story of 2012.”

Our story began: “One word best describes the story that grabbed the most headlines in the Sauk Valley in 2012: Incredible.

“Dixon was thrust into the national spotlight this year when what officials say is the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history was revealed by federal prosecutors.

“Longtime Comptroller Rita Crundwell, a nationally renowned horse breeder, was led out of City Hall in handcuffs April 17 and charged with stealing more than $30 million since 2006.

“That number jumped to nearly $54 million since December 1990 when federal prosecutors indicted her May 1 on a single count of wire fraud.”

No. 1 story in 2013: “Year of resolution in Crundwell case: Crundwell gets prison sentence; city gets millions.”

No. 1 story in 2014: “Dixon voters call for a big change.”

Not that the memory of Crundwell’s crimes disappeared this year.

But she lost her place as the No. 1 local newsmaker.

Damaging tornadoes in April and June were the top story; No. 2 is the local impact of the state budget stalemate.

A Crundwell-related story came in third: Dixon voters usher in sweeping changes in city government; first city manager hired; council revamps public works, considers parks.

Activities connected to Crundwell, now 62, still make news, most recently when SVM reported on the pending recovery of nearly $680,000 that represented Crundwell’s share of a family farm partnership.

But asset recovery work appears to be nearing an end.

That will leave Crundwell out of the spotlight with many more years remaining on her federal prison sentence. She will be 77 when she is released.

It won’t be too much longer until Crundwell recedes further into the collective consciousness, which is a good thing.

Dixon residents must never forget the hard lessons they learned from Crundwell’s betrayal of their trust.

But they won’t be sorry to see the end of this greedy, thieving woman’s dominance of the news.

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Dec. 23, 2015

(Arlington Heights) Daily Herald

Editorial: Untapped special funds can’t be part of long-term state budget solution

Untapped special funds cannot be part of what Illinois needs — a long-term budget solution

Oh, irony of painful ironies. At least $4 billion sits around untapped, while hundreds of Illinois services go unfunded or steadily decline in the midst of a desperate budget crisis.

How tempting it must be for state lawmakers to just dive in and, to use the quasi-official term for such a practice, sweep some of that much-needed money into the general fund.

Tempting, but definitely not wise.

The practice, recalled in an Associated Press story last week that identified the $4 billion sitting in 531 accounts established for specific purposes, is not unfamiliar to Illinois, and it is at the root of the budget problems that have plagued the state for years, even before Gov. Rod Blagojevich made a practice of “borrowing” from special accounts that collect and spend money for special purposes in order to plug holes in the general fund budget.

Arlington Heights Republican David Harris recognizes the danger, and he’s pushing legislation that would free the remaining billions for their original intents — presumably also helping assure that the state doesn’t succumb to the temptation to grab some of the money for itself.

“That’s a significant amount of money that would be tempting for anybody looking at a budget problem,” Harris told the AP.

Lawmakers freed up some special funds earlier this month when they voted to make special-fund payments to municipalities and lottery winners. Harris’s bill would permit scores of other interests access to money that’s already been collected for them. While that money sits frozen by the budget stalemate, not only are the businesses, agencies and individuals dependent on the income suffering, but that giant pool of temptation swells in the periphery.

No. 2 House Democrat Barbara Flynn Currie acknowledged the risk even as she discussed the legislation she co-sponsored to get municipalities their money.

“You create the special funds to serve special purposes,” she told AP, “and once you begin saying, ‘Open, Sesame’ — we can just take whatever we like — that’s not a good way to run things …”

No, it’s not. Perhaps under certain circumstances it can avert a crisis, but those circumstances had better be pretty dire and very well considered. That has rarely been the case in the past. It wasn’t the case under Blagojevich, and it certainly wasn’t the case in the 1990s when, using different accounts but the same shortsighted thinking, lawmakers plugged budget holes by dipping into pension funds.

We know all too well where that has led us. Aside from the ethical issues of snatching funds collected for, say, conservation or specific school projects and using them to fund government, short-term “sweeping” carries the very practical danger of making our general-fund crisis worse in the long run.

And it’s the long run that demands state leaders’ full commitment.

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Dec. 22, 2015

The (Champaign) News-Gazette

Which way does the arrow point?

Regardless of which direction the national economy takes in 2016, Illinois continues to take the path of underperformance.

It does not feel like the best of times. It certainly is not the worst of times.

If Charles Dickens were to rely today’s economy for inspiration, he would never have left the newspaper business.

With a new year approaching, the U.S. economy is not sending any clear signals on which way it is headed. Up, down, sideways?

Some economists see accelerating growth in 2016, the most robust growth since the end of the Great Recession in mid-2009.

Those experts point to more jobs being created, a historically low unemployment rate of 5 per cent, remarkably low prices for gasoline, and greater spending on housing and autos.

Other economists, however, are less optimistic and have their own statistics to back up their case.

While the U.S. is growing, it is not putting any upward pressure on wages. Therefore, inflation remains low — too low for these experts and for the Federal Reserve, which would like to see prices rising at an annual rate of 2 per cent.

The global economy, they say, is keeping a lid on the American business environment. U.S. companies can and do move overseas for lower-cost labour — one reason for stagnant wages here. America’s trading partners, especially China, play a key role in how well the U.S. economy performs. If Chinese growth is slowing, the rest of the world tends to do the same.

Finally, the naysayers point to low unemployment, low interest rates and low gas prices and ask: With such strengths, where’s the boom?

Indeed, there has been no great expansion so far to wipe away the last recession’s damage.

Here in Illinois, we are all too familiar with the economic no-man’s land.

Last month, Illinois’ 5.7 per cent unemployment rate stayed stubbornly higher than the national rate. Further, the November rate was higher than October’s, because more people returned to the workforce. While Illinois had a net increase of 400 jobs in November (seasonally adjusted), that total was not enough to keep pace with the extra people looking for work.

In past recoveries, states expected to see more people entering the workforce; working men and women recognize when businesses are adding jobs. And it is this balky growth in jobs that is keeping this recovery in first gear.

Illinois has its own low gear: itself. To be more specific, the leadership the people have elected.

In the years between 2010 and 2015, Illinois lagged in growth because the rest of the country recognized the Land of Lincoln lacked fiscal discipline. Why expand business in a state that has chosen a path of unsustainable government spending? Budget deficits, unpaid bills and grossly underfunded pension funds equal a sea of red ink that can only be absorbed by higher taxes and lower spending. There are less risky states to do business in.

This year, the situation is even worse. On top of the ongoing fiscal problems, Illinois government is at a standstill as the Republican governor and the Democratic Legislature cannot even fashion a spending-and-tax plan. A resolution in 2016 — while hoped for — is far from certain.

Last Thursday only added to the pessimism.

House Speaker Michael Madigan, citing a scheduling conflict, did not attend last week’s meeting on the stalled state budget. No explanation of what was more important.

Gov. Bruce Rauner, Senate President John Cullerton and Republican leaders Sen. Christine Radogno and Rep. Jim Durkin were there discussing term limits, redistricting and fixing the state’s $111 billion pension debt. The governor called the meeting productive. Which may have been his way of saying it wasn’t a total waste of time.

The next meeting is expected early next month.

A lot of people have a dog in this fight: students, universities, private agencies, vendors, municipalities, courts and public employee unions.

But longer term, the fate of the state relies on a successful compromise.

Either this state finds its way back to the path of growth, or it will be setting up its citizens for the worst of times.

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Dec. 17, 2015

Rockford Register Star

Hall status fills Cheap Trick’s resume

Cheap Trick has sold more than 20 million albums, has worked with some of the biggest producers in the music industry, has been successful for more than four decades and has a day in its honour in Illinois.

Those are impressive credentials for any band, but there was something missing from the resume: Hall of Fame status.

That came Dec. 17, when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland announced that “America’s greatest pop rock garage band” will be inducted April 8 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, a week after Cheap Trick Day in Illinois, which has been celebrated since 2008.

Cheap Trick has been eligible for the hall since 2002, but was nominated for the first time in October.

Music critics have credited the band with perfecting the power pop that influenced grunge and other contemporary rock, which made it all the more surprising that Cheap Trick has waited this long for Hall of Fame recognition.

However, it’s not about recognition for Rockford’s favourite quartet; the guys love to play. How else would you explain one of the busiest tour schedules in the business?

“We owe it to our fans for keeping us working and relevant. Onward to 2016!” frontman and guitarist Rick Nielsen told Register Star reporter Georgette Braun.

We fans are grateful for all the music Cheap Trick has played over the years. We eagerly await the release of the next album, “Bang Zoom Crazy Hello,” and the celebration of the group’s induction into the rock hall.