For a while Valerie Jarrett, the "other woman" in President-elect Barack Obama’s tightknit advisory circle, served as the CEO of Habitat Company, the group that managed Grove Parc Plaza, located in Barack Obama’s state senate district.
(Read the full post about ‘Jarrett’s deplorable Grove Parc Plaza’…)
Judicial Watch deserves accolades for their dogging on Valerie Jarrett … If lame stream media won’t do the work that needs to be done, it will take groups like Judicial Watch and ordinary bloggers to do this extraordinary research — at least for the next four years.
WASHINGTON – Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained documents linking Valerie Jarrett, an advisor to Barack Obama and the co-chairman of the President-Elect’s transition team, to a series of real estate scandals, including several housing projects operated by convicted felon and Obama fundraiser/friend Antoin "Tony" Rezko.
(Read the full post about ‘Jarrett “a slumlord,” Judicial Watch says’…)
One of the big events in the Songs:Illinois family is our the trip to the circus in 4 days. I know it’s 4 days away since my sons have been counting down since day twenty. If I played them this song they wouldn’t get it. They don’t see that the circus is also a sad, nearly tragic place. Even the best ones are constantly under attack from animal rights groups, the performers live the lives of gypsy’s, and it’s a commercial rat-trap with worthless toys and gadgets for sale around every corner (they love that part). I wrote about Rachel Harrington’s new record City of Refuge in September and I’m still struck by the song “Housewife’s Lament” and now I’m awed by this one too. (Read the full post about ‘Revisiting Rachel Harrington’s new disc “City Of Refuge”’…)
It’s shocking that when I do a search on Elbo.ws for an artist that I’ve written about in the past and discover that I’m still the only one to have profiled the band. Jonathan Byrd is one such artist. He’s a known commodity in the Americana world but apparently that doesn’t translate well into the blog world. His most recent record delved into his southern roots and is titled The Law And The Lonesome. Jonathan describes it thusly: “The ghost of Townes Van Zandt meets Hank Williams on the high plains. Several early listeners have told me that if “No Country For Old Men” had a soundtrack, it would be The Law and the Lonesome.” I can’t describe it any better, but I can share a track off of it. (Read the full post about ‘Lost Discs of 2008 - Jonathan Byrd “The Law and The Lonesome”’…)
I admit I had no idea about the world of “Twilight” prior to August, when “Breaking Dawn,” the fourth book in the vampire series, came out and sold a million copies.
Selling a million anything in this entertainment environment should raise your eyes.
If you’re “Twilight” deficient, get ready – you’re about to be overrun. A film based on the first book of the series arrives in theaters Friday – early. “Twilight” gets that special treatment of a midnight showing at a number of screens, including Forsyth’s Hickory Point.
As I said, I don’t have much knowledge about the series. When I asked a friend, “Is this something younger people move on to when they’re over Harry Potter?” she agreed to a point.
The animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) was back on the warpath over the weekend. At least this time instead of dumping red paint, one of its members threw flour at a fur-clad young celebrity.
(Follow the link if you want to know who got hit. She falls into the group of young people whose names will not be mentioned on this blog until they put as much of an emphasis on doing something artistic as they do on simply being seen and photographed.)
It’s always seemed to me that PETA members in general are the people most in need of being reminded that it’s easier to attract flies with honey.
A new ethics training program will be developed for University of Illinois employees, but at a cost to the university.
The Office of the Executive Inspector General, the state agency that oversees ethics training for tens of thousands of state employees, has asked the state’s public universities to handle ethics training for the universities beginning in 2009.
“We believe, and always have believed, the university possesses the resources to develop a training program that is best suited to situations that arise in the educational environment,” said Gilbert Jimenez, deputy inspector general in the Office of the Executive Inspector General for the agencies of the governor.
The UI, the largest public university in the state, is coordinating the effort by contracting with a company to handle the Internet-based training, according to UI spokesman Tom Hardy.
(Read the full post about ‘Universities now paying for ethics training program’…)
CHAMPAIGN – Tuesday was Move-in Day: the Sequel, for University of Illinois sophomore Jessica Sturdy. A tenant at the Burnham 310 development, Sturdy moved into her one-bedroom apartment after several months of temporary lodging at a Savoy apartment complex. She’s happy finally to be there, but “it’s kind of been a nightmare,” said her mother, Teresa Sturdy. Initially scheduled to open in August, then Oct. 31, the 18-story Burnham high-rise opened its first six floors this week. The city recently approved a partial occupancy permit for those floors, said Garry Bowman, Champaign’s building safety supervisor. A rainy construction season and moldy drywall that had to be replaced contributed to the delays, officials said. (Read the full post about ‘Burnham 310 opens first six floors for tenants’…)
CHAMPAIGN – The County Market store going up next to the Burnham 310 development is slated to open by next March.
Gerry Kettler, spokesman for Niemann Foods, said the company initially hoped to open the 30,000-square-foot store by August, but delays on the Burnham project put the grocery store behind as well, he said. The store shares a wall with the high-rise’s parking garage.
“We’re happy that we’re moving now,” Kettler said.
The store will feature a Caribou Coffee Shop, expanded deli, takeout meals and a 5,000-square-foot mezzanine with tables and chairs and wi-fi service, he said.
(Read the full post about ‘County Market aims for March opening at Burnham 310′…)
CHAMPAIGN – A new 11-story high-rise apartment building is likely going up on East Green Street. Campus Property Management is planning to build a 112-unit apartment building at 201 E. Green St., with ground-floor commercial space and, below the ground floor, a fitness center, according to project architect Josh Daly of Henneman Engineering of Champaign. Bids have been solicited for the project – estimated to cost between $18 million and $20 million – and are due Wednesday, he said. “It’s pretty exciting,” Daly said. “We’ve got eight general contractors bidding. Everybody’s pretty hungry right now.” The project will take about 18 months to construct and should be open in July 2010. (Read the full post about ‘Green Street to get another high-rise’…)