Ryan sentenced; could serve time in Pekin

George RyanFormer Illinois governor George Ryan was sentenced to six and a half years in a minimum-security prison. And at which prison will he be serving that time? We don’t know yet, but the Bloomington Pantagraph reports (emphasis mine):

Although his final destination remains unknown – as does the exact start-date of the 78-month prison sentence he received Wednesday – the federal Bureau of Prisons generally attempts to place inmates within 500 miles of their homes.

Prisons within that proximity of the governor’s Kankakee home include: Pekin, Terre Haute, Ind,; Springfield, Mo.; and Oxford, Wis.

Oh, please, please, please, let him serve his time in Pekin! That would be sweet.

I suppose I should have known this….

Emile LahoudRay LaHoodI was reading this article in the Jerusalem Post and it appears that Ray LaHood “is a distant relative of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud.” I’m guessing that’s common knowledge around here, but I didn’t realize it. It wasn’t mentioned in the Journal Star’s recent story about LaHood’s trip to the Middle East, and I couldn’t find mention of it in the Journal Star’s archives, but I didn’t do an exhaustive search either. I suppose it’s not a big deal, depending on how “distant” a relative he is. Still, it’s interesting to know.

Also interesting is LaHood’s report of his meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, compared to the Jerusalem Post’s report. From the Journal Star’s article:

“We had a very frank discussion with her [Livni],” LaHood said. “We brought up the blockade and her point – and it’s a good point – is you can’t dispute the fact that Israel is surrounded by Arab countries that want to do them in, like Iran and Syria.”

“They feel like Lebanon can be a good friend and a good partner,” LaHood said, but Israel wants to be assured that Hezbollah will not be rearmed and continue to pose a threat.

The Jerusalem Post article states:

Livni […] told representatives Ray LaHood (R-IL), Charles Boustany (R-LA) and Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) that Israel would not make any gestures toward Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.

According to officials in Livni’s office, the three congressmen came to Israel after meeting Saniora in Lebanon with a message that the blockade should be lifted for humanitarian reasons. LaHood is a distant relative of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud.

Livni’s reply was that Israel’s “pockets were empty” of gestures until UN Security Council Resolution 1701 is implemented. She said that if Saniora wanted to improve the situation, he should do everything within his power to work for the release of kidnapped IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev and enforce the arms embargo against Hizbullah.

At first glance, they’re pretty similar. But it’s worth noting that Israel is not only asking for Hezbollah not to be rearmed (that is, to get new arms shipments), but for Hezbollah to be disarmed. Israel wants UN Security Council Resolution 1701 fully implemented, which includes this provision (emphasis mine):

[The UN] Calls for Israel and Lebanon to support a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution based on the following principles and elements:
[…]
— full implementation of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, and of resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), that require the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that, pursuant to the Lebanese cabinet decision of 27 July 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese State;

Resolutions 1559 and 1680 specifically call for the disbandment and disarmament of “all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias,” which would include Hezbollah.

Livni also mentioned that it would be a good thing if those kidnapped Israeli soldiers were returned, since that’s part of what triggered the escalation. LaHood didn’t mention that, either.

Nevertheless, it looks like LaHood is going to get his wish tomorrow. CNN reports that “Israel will lift its sea and air blockade of Lebanon on Thursday evening, the Israeli government announced Wednesday.” In accord with Resolution 1701, international forces are taking over for Israeli forces, hence the step down from a full blockade on Lebanon.

All-boys public school opens in Chicago

Urban Prep Charter AcademyChicago public schools are taking a page from parochial schools’ playbook to try to improve student performance. The Urban Prep Charter Academy on Chicago’s south side has gone to a boys-only school.

According to WLS-TV (ABC7Chicago.com), “[Urban Prep President] Tim King came up with the idea for the first all-boys public school. After leading a boys Catholic school, he wanted to see all young men be given the same academic opportunity.”

“The school represents a new strategy to raise achievement levels among African-American boys,” reports cbs2chicago.com.

Operating inside the stately Lindbloom High School building, the first Urban Prep students will have a longer school day and wear blazers, shirts and ties under strict discipline — all part of an effort to reverse depressing statistics.

“We should end the steady increase of young African-American [and] Latino males going into the prison system,” Mayor Richard Daley said of the changes.

By employing teaching methods tailored for boys, Urban Prep Principal Tim King believes those trends can be changed.

“We know for example that boys learn better under conditions of stress,” he said. “So what we can do in our delivery of instruction is create an environment in which students are constantly being challenged and have to respond to those challenges.”

Enrollment in the charter school is 150 students chosen randomly from all applicants, and each of them was greeted by their last name and with a firm handshake the first day of school. The idea is that by treating them with respect, expecting them to dress professionally, and holding them to higher standards, they will learn to respect themselves and others and take pride in their school and work.

Time will tell how well this bold initiative will work. It’s worth keeping an eye on — if it’s successful, it may be something that District 150 could emulate in the future.

Picture credit: Chicago Defender/Worsom Robinson

City ignores service record; awards contract

See No EvilDespite its breach of contract and public endangerment, Central Illinois Railroad (CIRY) was rewarded Tuesday night with a fat no-bid contract to do some rail improvements along Allen Road. I’m guessing this “see no evil” approach is the city’s way of saying “thank you” to a company that has conspired with them to stop serving Carver Lumber via the Kellar Branch.

City staff had the audacity to defend CIRY’s record of service, insisting as they did before the Surface Transportation Board (STB) that CIRY has been delivering Carver’s shipments within two hours of when Union Pacific places the cars on the western spur. As Pioneer Industrial Railway (PIRY) ably argued in a letter to the STB yesterday rebutting the city’s claim:

While the [city’s] letter claims that the “records show” that CIRY made deliveries “no more than two hours after receiving the car from Union Pacific,” this is not what the records show. Even if we were to believe these belatedly-produced, unverified “records”, they show notification times, not UP delivery times. It is also a matter of fact in the record that Carver routinely has to notify CIRY of UP deliveries because CIRY has no local presence.

David Jordan explains how long it really takes CIRY to deliver shipments:

The fact is, Union Pacific’s “Peoria Wayfreight” works five days a week, Sunday thru Thursday beginning at 5:00pm. A trip up to Pioneer Jct. is usually the first job for the wayfreight, which does this on Mondays and Wednesdays. Basically, UP delivers to CIRY in the early evening, but CIRY’s crew does not work the Pioneer Jct. to Pioneer Park line until late morning or early afternoon the following day (if there are any cars). [Assuming] that CIRY receives notice from the UP the following morning that these cars have been delivered […] UP physically interchanges these cars to CIRY the prior evening and then some 18-20 hours later, CIRY delivers to Carver Lumber.

That’s assuming that CIRY receives notice from UP in a timely manner, which isn’t necessarily the case, as Pioneer points out that Carver has had to notify CIRY on occasion as well. But who cares if Carver is getting adequate service? Certainly not the city. To the city, Carver is not a business that provides 50 good-paying jobs plus property and sales taxes to the economy; rather, they’re just obstructionists standing in the way of a hiking/biking trail the Park District wants to build.