(press release)
Mayor Jim Ardis announced today that he intends to file nominating petitions for another term as Mayor. With solid support from his family, Mayor Ardis is committed to continuing his focus on providing a strong environment for business, maintaining an intense focus on crime and supporting strong neighborhoods with [...]

Merle Widmer’s reaction to hearing Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli beg for a $25 billion bailout:
Everything I read, heard and watched says let them go bankrupt just like everyone else who is inefficient, unrealistic, greedy, arrogant, etc …
And then there’s Merle’s reaction to hearing that newly elected Congressman Aaron Schock isn’t quite sold on the bailout [...]

Two different sources — who asked to not be named — tell me that’s the rumor going around Peoria. These sources belong to different parties and don’t run in the same circle of friends.
Here’s what one tells me: If Shadid does run, the motivation will be political payback and an attempt to relieve boredom.

He’s mad at [...]

Darin LaHood was a great candidate for Peoria County State’s attorney. He’s a former federal prosecutor for God’s sake. He shares the name of one of the most popular politicians in the area.
So it wasn’t just that Kevin Lyons is a bad public servant. By any standard that exists he is. He’s arrogant. He’s dismissive [...]

Prediction:
“I believe that when the votes are counted, there will be no greater then 10 percentage points between Schock and Callahan, and possibly less than five points.” - Billy Dennis
Reality:
The 27-year-old, two-term Republican state representative had 129,049 votes, or 58 percent, at 10:30 p.m. in 19 of the 20 counties comprising the 18th Congressional District. [...]

As noted earlier, I waited in line for about 45 minutes to vote. I got in line at about 9:30 a.m. and got back to my car at about 10:20 a.m. When I got in line, a woman exiting the building said she had to wait about 1 hour, 5 minutes. Yikes.
I considered coming back [...]

(Press release)
Carrigan: Union Support Strong for Callahan in 18th Race
Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael Carrigan said the support for Colleen Callahan’s bid for Congress runs very deep and the Labor Movement will have a massive voter turnout effort on her behalf starting Saturday.
“We have more than 40,000 union members in the 18th District,” Carrigan said. “We [...]

An informal survey of area union members says 70 percent of them support Democrat Colleen Callahan, with 30 percent supporting Republican Aaron Schock.
This survey was done after Schock released a statement claiming endorsement from nine labor organizations.
Expect a more detailed statement from the Callahan campaign before the end of the day.

(Press release)
(PEORIA) Representative Aaron Schock picked up the support of nine unions in his bid to succeed Ray LaHood as Congressman for the 18th District.
The unions include:
* National Education Association, NEA, the largest union representing teachers in the 18th District
* Illinois Education Association, IEA
* The International Union of Operating Engineers
* The National Association of [...]

It wasn’t all that long ago that Peoria County State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons proudly proclaimed that he would never solicit endorsements from police officers, because he refused to be in anyone’s pocket.
At the time, I considered this a case of making a virtue out of necessity, because I doubted there were many active police officers [...]