Peoria Pundit

WHOI sports guy Jason Koma is leaving the station. Jeff at Peoria Television Stations has the details. No word yet on where he is going.

… but I’m gonna have to turn it down. Politics is beneath me. And besides, I hear the guy is a real hardass of a boss.

I am, however, perfectly willing to blog for a living.

The consolidation of the mainstream media continues:

Pulitzer Inc. has agreed to a $1.46 billion acquisition by Lee Enterprises Inc., that will create the seventh-largest U.S. newspaper chain in terms of circulation.

The deal, announced late Sunday, ended two months of speculation about the fate of Pulitzer, whose holdings include The Pantagraph and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
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Lee, which specializes in suburban and community newspapers, said it has no plans to sell off any of Pulitzer’s papers.
Lee operates 44 daily newspapers in 19 states. It had revenue of $683 million and profits of $86.1 million in its latest fiscal year. Pulitzer owns 14 dailies and more than 100 weekly newspapers and other publications. It had revenue of $444 million and profits of $44.1 million last year.

Lee’s deal for Pulitzer also includes a small stake in the St. Louis Cardinals. Pulitzer Inc. and Michael Pulitzer together own slightly less than four percent of the baseball team.

Lee doesn’t expect to make immediate or major changes in the business or editorial operations at Pulitzer, which will function as a Lee subsidiary, Junck said. Pulitzer employs 4,000 people, including about 300 employees at The Pantagraph.
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Lee owns a number of Illinois newspapers, including the Herald & Review in Decatur, the Southern Illinoisan in Carbondale, the Journal Gazette in Mattoon, and the Times-Courier in Charleston.

So, how is this a good thing for those who want to see newspapers compete against each other? Hrmph. It isn’t. I do not care what assurances the bosses have now, there is no way that this organization is going to pay to have two statehouse organizations. One reason newspapers in one geographic area consolidate is benefit from the economies of scale. Another is to reduce competition over ad rates. It makes good business sense, if one measures good business only by short terms cost cutting at the expense of product quality. They are banking on consumers not noticing or caring that quality is declining.

My advice to the good people of Bloomington and these other communities is this: Start micro-news blogs now. Start keeping track about how much local and state capitol reporting your papers perform now. It’s going to decline. The same thing happened at the Journal Star.

Another question: Will The Pantagraph’s relationship with WEEK as its “news partner” survice the change?

Ray LaHood isn’t OFFICIALLY a candidate for governor of Illinois — he’s just traveling around the state getting his name out to the public and angling for endorsements at the county level. You know, exactly what someone does when he is a candidate. There are a lot of people who are taking his candidacy seriously.

These guys are as serious as a heart attack.

For too long, We The People have been misled by a “Republican” congressman who does not stand for our values and cannot be held accountable for his actions because he faces only token opposition. This website will expose the truth about his record and the history of his district, and serve as a grassroots focal point to push for new leadership in 2006.

Ray LaHood likes to wrap himself up in the mantle of Lincoln and Reagan, because he represents a small portion of their old stomping grounds. In reality, Congressman LaHood is a RINO (Republican In Name Only) who is far removed from the political philosophies and integrity of those individuals. NoLaHood.com gives viewers an opportunity to examine the full record of the Congressman, as well as look at several alternatives to his liberal policies, and judge for yourself.

It’s harsh talk, but exactly what I predicted would happen. The site goes to pains to make LaHood’s lack of support for former U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald the cause of Barack Obama’s win. But it was the far-right that picked Alan Keyes to be the party’s nominee. I’m just pointing that out.

Via Capitol Fax Blog.

Copley News Services’ Doug Fink notesthe public uproar over a Department of Natural Resourses worker Arthur “Red” Burchyett, who was laid off and and told he could no keep the specially designed wheelchair the DNR bought to help him perform his duties.

All of this was detailed in a story in the Southern Illinoisan newspaper Jan. 1. Nothing happened. Nothing happened, that is, until Friday, when the Chicago Tribune discovered the story and played it on its front page. From there, it spread to Chicago radio. By mid-morning Friday, Gov. Rod Blagojevich issued a statement that Burchyett would get back both his wheelchair and his job.

“The Tribune story that he read was his first knowledge of it,” said Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch.

Isn’t that comforting? The Southern Illinoisan is a major media voice in that part of the state, yet not only was the governor unaware of what was happening in the newspaper’s area, apparently so was everyone else in his administration. Not one person in this image-conscious operation bothered to bring this issue to Blagojevich’s attention.

What are the changes, do you think, that he pays attention to downstate bloggers?

Unlike the Internet hoax about a tax on email, this sumbitch is the real deal:

An influential congressional committee has dropped a political bombshell by suggesting that a tax originally created to pay for the Spanish American War could be extended to all Internet and data connections this year.

The committee, deeply involved in writing U.S. tax laws, unexpectedly said in a report Thursday that the 3 percent telecommunications tax could be revised to cover “all data communications services to end users,” including broadband; dial-up; fiber; cable modems; cellular; and DSL, or digital subscriber line, links.

Currently, the 3 percent excise tax applies only to traditional telephone service. But because of technological convergence and the dropping popularity of landlines, the Joint Committee on Taxation concluded in its review of tax law reforms that it might make sense to extend the 100-year old levy to new technologies. The committee did not take a position on whether Congress should approve such an extension and simply listed it as an “option.”

Where does U.S. Rep Ray LaHood (R-Peoria) stand on this issue? Let’s ask him. He can be sent email here.

His Washington D.C. address is: U.S. Rep Ray LaHood, 1424 Longworth Building, Washington, D.C. 20515.

His local phone number is 309-671-7027 and his FAX is 309-671-7309.

By the way: Rep. LaHood is running for governor of Illinois.

Gat tip: Rodger.

The people have won.

… over at Market 117. I used to have a bit of a crush on Yvonne. Don’t tell Greg.

It’s time.

The only one wanting the Cubs to divorce themselves from Sammy Sosa worse than the Cubs was Sammy Sosa himself.

Now it appears they both will have their way, bringing to a close one of the happiest, most glorious and saddest, most ignoble eras in Chicago sports history.

Sosa is expected to be traded to the Baltimore Orioles this weekend, although it cannot become official until at least Monday because it would need approval from Commissioner Bud Selig, a move made necessary because the Cubs are believed to be paying as much as half of Sosa’s $17 million salary for 2005.

It’s all over but the shouting. The only surprise is how I’m not sad in the least.

Sosa had become a Chicago institution, dining with kings and posing with celebrities during his heart-tapping home-run heyday in the late 1990s when he and St. Louis’ Mark McGwire captivated a world-wide audience and brought baseball back to popularity from its 1994 lockdown.

But this past season, his worst in nearly a decade, the unthinkable had happened–he was booed in Wrigley Field — and then he walked out on his teammates during the final game of the season, becoming a disgraced and criticized figure. He was fined a day’s pay, $87,500.

If Sosa is gone, it ends a strange period in Chicago sports history, a superstar falling out of favor with management and fans. His fate appeared to be sealed when he left the final game of the season just moments after it started — caught on video by Cubs management who quickly shared it with media–and then blamed manager Dusty Baker for his troublesome season that included stints on the disabled list for a sore back caused by sneezing and for hip bursitis.

Sosa, who “apologized” to management and fans through agent Katz, has not talked with Baker or Hendry since the end of the season.

The Cubs made trading Sosa a priority after that, knowing it was nearly impossible for him to return after embarrassing himself in front of Baker and his teammates.

Feh. Sammy was a smiling malcontent and a locker-room bully throughout his tenure, and it got worse the most popular he became with the fans. He was a prima donna who insisted on playing music loudly, even when it disturbed that day’s starting pitcher. He bullied the team into putting his personal trainer — read “flunky” in uniform so he could be in the locker room in the first place. He wore a captain’s “C” on his jersey, but played to boost his stats.

Again, a smart baseball team looks the other way when the offender has the stats to make it worth it.

Sammy’s problem — a condition aggravated by coach Dusty Baker’s pathological ass-kissing — continued as his play got worse and worse.

He’s old, injury prone and a malcontent. The Cubs are so better off without him. And I feel like I’ve been taken by a con man for having rooted for the guy for so long.

But the Sammy experience hopefully has left us a little wiser, and less likely to give our hearts away to someone with a well-rehearsed line, a flashy smile and selfish motives.

It’s time.

The only one wanting the Cubs to divorce themselves from Sammy Sosa worse than the Cubs was Sammy Sosa himself.

Now it appears they both will have their way, bringing to a close one of the happiest, most glorious and saddest, most ignoble eras in Chicago sports history.

Sosa is expected to be traded to the Baltimore Orioles this weekend, although it cannot become official until at least Monday because it would need approval from Commissioner Bud Selig, a move made necessary because the Cubs are believed to be paying as much as half of Sosa’s $17 million salary for 2005.

It’s all over but the shouting. The only surprise is how I’m not sad in the least.

Sosa had become a Chicago institution, dining with kings and posing with celebrities during his heart-tapping home-run heyday in the late 1990s when he and St. Louis’ Mark McGwire captivated a world-wide audience and brought baseball back to popularity from its 1994 lockdown.

But this past season, his worst in nearly a decade, the unthinkable had happened–he was booed in Wrigley Field — and then he walked out on his teammates during the final game of the season, becoming a disgraced and criticized figure. He was fined a day’s pay, $87,500.

If Sosa is gone, it ends a strange period in Chicago sports history, a superstar falling out of favor with management and fans. His fate appeared to be sealed when he left the final game of the season just moments after it started — caught on video by Cubs management who quickly shared it with media–and then blamed manager Dusty Baker for his troublesome season that included stints on the disabled list for a sore back caused by sneezing and for hip bursitis.

Sosa, who “apologized” to management and fans through agent Katz, has not talked with Baker or Hendry since the end of the season.

The Cubs made trading Sosa a priority after that, knowing it was nearly impossible for him to return after embarrassing himself in front of Baker and his teammates.

Feh. Sammy was a smiling malcontent and a locker-room bully throughout his tenure, and it got worse the most popular he became with the fans. He was a prima donna who insisted on playing music loudly, even when it disturbed that day’s starting pitcher. He bullied the team into putting his personal trainer — read “flunky” in uniform so he could be in the locker room in the first place. He wore a captain’s “C” on his jersey, but played to boost his stats.

Again, a smart baseball team looks the other way when the offender has the stats to make it worth it.

Sammy’s problem — a condition aggravated by coach Dusty Baker’s pathological ass-kissing — continued as his play got worse and worse.

He’s old, injury prone and a malcontent. The Cubs are so better off without him. And I feel like I’ve been taken by a con man for having rooted for the guy for so long.

But the Sammy experience hopefully has left us a little wiser, and less likely to give our hearts away to someone with a well-rehearsed line, a flashy smile and selfish motives.