From a press release:

STATEMENT FROM DARIN LAHOOD

Peoria, IL – Darin LaHood, candidate for Peoria County State’s Attorney has issued the following statement in response to Kevin Lyons’ statement yesterday:

“Five children between the ages of 13 and 16 were allegedly raped by a convicted felon out on parole over the course of 13 months leading up to January of this year. Monterius Hinkle was arrested at least three times by law enforcement, and was never charged for any rape by the State’s Attorney Office until the fifth rape. He should have been charged the first time. Instead, Hinkle left five rape victims and their devastated families. Concerned citizens of this community want answers as to why Hinkle was walking the streets of Peoria after four alleged rapes.”

Kevin Lyons has reduced the criminal justice system – particularly in this case – to political expediency; he has made false accusations against me, and he is ultimately responsible that Hinkle was free, on the streets of Peoria to allegedly commit these multiple rapes. I am a candidate for the office of State’s Attorney and yesterday the Peoria Heights police officers endorsed my candidacy by giving me the unanimous support of police organizations throughout the County. Law enforcement has collectively said that Lyons offers them no support as they tirelessly work to keep our streets safe.

I make no apologies for continuing to ascertain how families who have been victimized by unspeakable crimes feel about their treatment in our criminal justice system. I have this responsibility as a candidate for State’s Attorney This is crucial because the safety and security of our community depends it. At the very least, citizens should expect that violent criminals are sent to prison the first time and not allowed to roam the streets and commit further crimes. My commitment to the citizens of Peoria County is to put violent criminals where they belong–behind bars.”

The report on WCBU this morning had sound bites from LaHood saying he never identified himself as “the new prosecutor” on the case, and that he wasn’t there to see the rape victim, but rather the rape victim’s father. He further said that he went to see the victim’s father at the request of police officers familiar with the case.

Read all about it.

So far, I’ve only heard Lyons’ side of the story and a few select quotes that the paper saw fit to print. I’ve e-mailed Darin LaHood to get his official response. Once I get that, I’ll form an opinion. There are always two sides to every story, especially during campaign season.

I’d ask Lyons for his side of the story in the last post, but he never answers my e-mails.

From a press release:

Peoria Heights Police Unanimously Endorse Darin LaHood:
AWOL Suspect In Heights Fraud Investigation Prompts Police Union to Pronounce ‘Lost Confidence’ in State’s Attorney’s Office

Peoria Heights, IL – While Peoria County State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons and investigators from his office have scrambled to determine how once-detained suspect Kranthi Akula slipped out of the Country before facing prosecution for fraudulent business practices, the Peoria Heights Police Department officers who investigated, arrested and jailed the suspect are frustrated that Lyons mishandled the case and allowed Akula to avoid prosecution and flee to India.

“We have lost confidence in Kevin Lyons’ abilities as State’s Attorney,” said Detective Chris Ahart of the Peoria Heights Police Department. “Our officers in conjunction with the Correctional Officers at the County jail arrested, transported, and booked the suspect into the County jail. It’s incomprehensible to us that Lyons failed at the Court hearing to demand forfeiture of Akula’s passport to the Sheriff’s Department as a condition of his bond. This mistake allowed the suspect to flee the Country. Lyons’ mishandling of the case is an embarrassment to law enforcement in Peoria.”

Police officers in Peoria Heights are clearly frustrated with the Akula case, but came together late last month to collectively call for change in the State’s Attorney’s office. On July 21, 2008, the Peoria Heights Police Benevolent Union voted 11-0 to endorse challenger candidate Darin LaHood for the top prosecutor’s office.

“The situation in Peoria Heights continues a pattern of neglect in the State’s Attorneys office that worsens our crime problems and demoralizes law enforcement,” said LaHood. “In case after case, the officers, deputies, investigators and detectives at the local departments have done their jobs. They have arrested and detained suspects, they have imprisoned convicts and they have worked very hard on the frontlines to make Peoria County safer. The problem, time and again, has been in the prosecutor’s office. In the Peoria Heights case, the State’s Attorney did not know what to do to keep an international suspect in Peoria. In other situations, he has been too liberal with plea bargains and ultimately soft on crime. No wonder we have the highest crime rate in the state over the past five years. I am committed to working in tandem with Peoria law enforcement, I will take a hard-line on criminals and together we will make Peoria a safer place for us all. It’s time for a change in the State’s Attorneys office.”

The endorsement of Darin LaHood for State’s Attorney from officers in Peoria Heights follows numerous others throughout the County. Those include both Peoria City and County police unions, as well as unions in Bartonville, Chillicothe and the County Correctional Officers. To date, LaHood has received all of the public endorsements from law enforcement agencies in Peoria County that have been issued.

Darin LaHood, 40, was born and raised in Peoria. He is a former Chief Terrorism and Federal Prosecutor who served four years with the U.S. Department of Justice in Las Vegas, Nevada. LaHood was also an Assistant State’s Attorney in both Tazewell and Cook counties. LaHood and his wife, Kristen, returned home to Peoria in 2005 to raise their three children: McKay, Luke, and Teddy. LaHood currently practices with the Peoria law firm of Miller, Hall, & Triggs. Darin and Kristen are active in numerous Peoria charitable and civic organizations and are members of St. Vincent de Paul Church. Visit www.DarinLaHood.com to learn more about Darin, volunteer opportunities, or to contribute to the campaign.

Via the New York Times (note: may require free registration):

Senator Barack Obama has all but settled on his choice for a running mate and set an elaborate rollout plan for his decision, beginning with an early morning alert to supporters, perhaps as soon as Wednesday morning, aides said. […]

Going into the final days, Mr. Obama was said to be focused mainly on three candidates: Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware. […]

If all goes according to plan, the announcement will be made with text and e-mail messages to supporters early in the morning, in time to capture coverage on the morning news shows and take advantage of a full day’s news cycle.

Mr. Obama and his running mate will begin, perhaps that day, a visit to swing states.

I’ve been seeing this comparison crop up frequently on websites and in my mailbox:

The “143 Days” is a bit misleading, as it’s evidently comparing days Congress is in session for Obama with calendar years of service for McCain. Obama has served in the Senate for three and a half calendar years.

Nevertheless, it’s an apt comparison. If there’s any value in experience, McCain certainly has the upper hand. And it’s kind of funny to me that military experience for the commander in chief isn’t more of a campaign issue when we’re in the middle of a war. It certainly was a campaign issue four years ago.

From a press release:

LaHood to Create an Urban Advisory Committee to Improve Communication
State’s Attorney candidate cites disconnect between community and the Courthouse

Peoria, IL – Since launching his candidacy last October, Darin LaHood has been touting the importance of ‘partnering with community leaders from our urban and high crime areas to rebuild a level of trust.’ The challenger for Peoria County State’s Attorney has taken another step in fulfilling that proposal by announcing his intention to form an Urban Advisory Committee (UAC) made up of leaders and activists from Peoria’s African American community that would meet with and advise him on a regular basis in addressing issues of concern. The Committee is a way for LaHood, as State’s Attorney, to be pro-active instead of re-active on issues and concerns facing the African American Community

LaHood hosted a gathering of over 60 community members, predominantly African Americans, on Thursday at Chef Leo’s Bistro 320 in Peoria to announce the plan and to begin the formation of his UAC. Patti Polk, a longtime leader in Peoria’s African American community said the LaHood plan is needed to provide residents better access and ability to be heard by County government and specifically the State’s Attorney’s Office.

“Too often, the community voices are shut out of the process,” said Polk referencing the relationship between citizens and the local government. “Darin LaHood has made a concerted effort to be available to all Peorians and to listen to their concerns about the criminal justice system. His commitment and attention to these issues as a candidate will undoubtedly translate to an accessible and attentive State’s Attorney’s office – something sorely needed. I am honored to assist Darin with his efforts and when he is elected in November I will proudly serve on the UAC.”

Discussing the disconnect between the present States Attorney’s office and the Peoria African American community, LaHood told those assembled at Chef Leo’s that there has been a ‘collapse of trust.’ He said to rebuild that trust, it is important to have a diverse office staff, provide citizens accessibility and to simply ‘show up’ and let the residents know that you care about the issues that affect them.

“Law abiding citizens in many parts of our community have lost faith in the local criminal justice system,” said LaHood. “It is critical that we re-establish this level of trust and the obvious, simple first step is to improve communication. That’s what I intend to do with the UAC and I am very excited about the positive response this announcement has received.”

Darin LaHood, 40, was born and raised in Peoria. He is a former Chief Terrorism and Federal Prosecutor who served four years with the U.S. Department of Justice in Las Vegas, Nevada. LaHood was also an Assistant State’s Attorney in both Tazewell and Cook counties. LaHood and his wife, Kristen, returned home to Peoria in 2005 to raise their three children: McKay, Luke, and Teddy. LaHood currently practices with the Peoria law firm of Miller, Hall, & Triggs. Darin and Kristen are active in numerous Peoria charitable and civic organizations and are members of St. Vincent de Paul Church. Visit www.DarinLaHood.com to learn more about Darin, volunteer opportunities, or to contribute to the campaign.

Independent candidate for Congress Allan Stevo has filed suit in U.S. District Court (Springfield) against the Illinois State Board of Elections. Although he submitted over 7,200 valid signatures, the Board of Elections removed him from the ballot because he fell short of the statutory requirement of 10,285 signatures — “5% of the total number of persons who voted in the last general election within the congressional district.”

Stevo is challenging that requirement. He claims it’s “unnecessary, discriminatory, and unconstitutional.” On that last point, he claims it specifically violates the first and fourteenth amendments.

“Established parties,” as defined in the Illinois Election Code, only need 0.5% of the total persons who voted in the last general election — a significantly smaller requirement. And just to make things completely weird, the 5% requirement for independent candidates only applies in election years that do not immediately follow a federal census. (Yeah, try to make sense of that.) In election years that do immediately follow a federal census (1972, 1982, 1992, 2002, 2012, etc.), independent candidates running for Congress need only collect 5,000 signatures. Stevo uses this fact as proof that the 5% requirement is unnecessary.

Stevo is asking the court to declare Illinois’ ballot access restrictions unconstitutional, put his name on the ballot, and reimburse his attorney’s fees.

Billy Dennis admits he’s optimistic about Colleen Callahan’s chances of winning the 18th Congressional District seat in the U. S. House of Representatives this November:

Think about it: More than 700 people crowded into a basement of a tiny building on the outskirts of Kickapoo, Ill., to show their support for a woman whom all the experts say cannot win…. Laugh at my optimism if you must, but this has the makings of a people power movement, right here in the River City…. Election day is three months and two weeks away. A lot can happen in that time.

On the other hand, Monday’s Word on the Street (written this week entirely by Karen McDonald) offers a not-so-rosy picture of Callahan’s campaign:

Former Journal Star assignment editor Terry Towery was hired as Democratic congressional candidate Colleen Callahan’s press secretary, but now her news releases list him as campaign manager…. A changing of the guard so close to an election (it’s in November) is not common. In fact, it’s practically unheard of unless the campaign is in trouble….

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee named Callahan to its list of 20 “emerging races” where candidates have generated excitement in their districts and are being watched…. But DCCC still doesn’t appear to be terribly interested.

DCCC recently…targeted three House seats with significant television ad buys at more than $1 million each…. The 18th Congressional District was not one of them.

Love him or hate him, Schock is going to win this election. Callahan is not a strong enough candidate to overcome the Schock juggernaut of money, gerrymandering, and demonstrably superior campaign strategy. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m no fan of Aaron Schock, but if the kid can seriously suggest selling nukes to Taiwan and skate to a majority win in a three-way race, might as well start printing up stationery…. unless the Democrats put up a strong contender with a lot of national backing. Callahan is not that contender.

From a press release:

The Constitution party of Illinois to hold state convention in Peoria

Peoria, IL. – On Saturday, July 26, 2008 the Constitution Party of Illinois is holding its State Convention. The convention will be held in the Chiminee Room at the Pere Marquette Hotel in downtown Peoria, IL from 1pm to 5pm. Darrell Castle, our Vice Presidential Candidate, will be the main speaker. U.S. Senator Candidate, Chad Koppie, will also be speaking. Tickets for the convention are $20.00 and can be purchased at the door.

For hotel reservations or directions you can contact the hotel directly at:

Hotel Pere Marquette – Peoria , IL
501 Main Street , Peoria , IL 61602
Phone: 866-376-8886
Email: pere@hotelperemarquette.com
http://www.hotelperemarquette.com