Original News, Features & Opinion on Chicago, Illinois and America
War heats up between Lipinski and challenger Newman Congressman Dan Lipinski is facing a stiff challenge from popular newcomer Marie Newman in the March 20, 2018 Democratic primary for the 3rd Congressional District. Both candidates released lists of endorsements on Wednesday with Lipinski receiving support from 30 mayors in the district and Newman receiving the…
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Arab American Democratic Club urges Pritzker to apologize Arab Americans in Illinois called on gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker Wednesday to publicly apologize for insensitive comments he made in which he accused a Muslim American group of being “terrorists” when he ran for Congress in 1998. Arab American Democratic Club President Samir Khalil said the comment…
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NARAL stands with Marie Newman in 3rd District Congressional race NARAL Stands With Marie Newman as Ballot Signatures Submitted in IL-03. NARAL Volunteers Gathered Signatures From Voters Across The 3rd to Support Pro-Choice Champion NARAL Pro-Choice America congratulated Marie Newman today as she submitted signatures to qualify for the ballot in Illinois’ 3rd congressional district. The…
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Video: Adventures in remembering Harold Washington I traveled with my dad this week to a meeting of former Chicago City Hall reporters at Italian Village to mark the 30th anniversary of the passing of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington. Afterwards, we went to WGN AM 720 radio to join “The Download” radio host Justin Kaufmann for…
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Remembering Mayor Washington this Thanksgiving Mayor Harold Washington was one of the more affable of Chicago’s mayors. He had a great sense of humor and was driven by a desire to balance the imbalance in Chicago’s society, bringing all of the city’s races and ethnic groups together, treating them equally. It’s something we no longer…
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Rauner’s bash-and-burn TV Ads slander Illinois Illinois Gov Bruce Rauner thinks his ads bashing House Speaker Michael J. Madigan are clever, tapping support from three neighboring Republican governors. But the Ads really symbolize Rauner’s own self-hatred of the state he leads By Ray Hanania Anyone with a lot of money can clog our TV viewing…
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Lincolnshire Republican Sukovic announces bid to run for 59th State Rep District Marko Sukovic, a Stevenson High School alum and graduating senior from the University of Illinois, has announced he is circulating petitions to run for state representative in Illinois’ 59th District. Sukovic has worked his way through college and has been a tireless…
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Kennedy will respect Arabs, Muslims as Illinois governor Illinois gubernatorial candidate Christopher Kennedy told a gathering of influential Arab and Muslim community activists Saturday that he would defend their rights as Americans and respect their cultural and religious identities. Kennedy said when his family immigrated to America, they faced the same racism and discrimination now…
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Arrogance of the Orland Park Village Board The Orland Park Village Board is apparently pretending that village voters really didn’t mean to support “change” in the last election, voting to oust 24-year incumbent Dan McLaughlin and replacing him with a little known, well-intentioned challenger, Keith Pekau. The board has named Joe LaMargo, the former head…
Analysis: Why Pekau won and McLaughlin lost A poorly run re-election campaign by seven-term incumbent Mayor Dan McLaughlin combined with a hot-topic issue of salary and pension hikes, and a laser-focused issues campaign of a non-political challenger, Keith Pekau, running on the Republican Party banner did what no one thought could happen April 4 in Orland Park….
Muslims lose in backlash in Suburban Chicago elections Two Muslim candidates who had strong political backing lost their bids for election on Tuesday in Suburban Chicago contests. Dave Shalabi, who was appointed to a position on a local school board two years ago, lost his bid to remain on the influential school board. Bahira Karim fails in…
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Pekau defeats McLaughlin in Orland Park mayoral race Republican challenger Keith Pekau easily unseated 23 year incumbent Dan McLaughlin as Mayor of Orland Park in a contest that focused on the mayor’s bid to boost his salary by more than 375 percent and to spike his pension from $30,000 a year to $110,000. By Ray Hanania…
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Pekau says he won’t take pension benefit The high profile battle for the office of mayor of Orland Park in southwest suburban Chicago is fueled by the board’s decision to give the 23 year incumbent Mayor Dan McLaughlin a massive salary boost and huge pension after only one term in office. The salary and pension spike has…
Orland Mayoral race has state’s attention The battle between Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin and challenger Keith Pekau has the attention of the entire state apparently creating a wild election contest filled with a lot of unusual issues, supporters and claims By Ray Hanania The battle to lead Orland Park, one of the fastest growing suburbs…
Kennedy promises to bring diversity to Illinois government Christopher Kennedy, the son of slain former New York Senator and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, told an overcrowded gathering of American Arabs outside of Chicago that he would defend the rights of immigrants and fight to bring diversity back to Illinois government when elected governor of the…
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Gorman gives Rauner some added ‘Big Mo’ By RAY HANANIA Southwest News-Herald Newspaper Friday, December 27, 2013 Winnetka Businessman Bruce Rauner may be new to politics, but he apparently knows more about Republican politics than his rivals. Rauner won the endorsement of the Cook County Republican Party over GOP rivals State Sen. Kirk Dillard and Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford,…
David Orr and Making Voting Just So ‘Easy’ By RAY HANANIA Southwest News-Herald Friday, June 21, 2013 Despite the low voter turnout, voting is already easy. But not everyone wants to take the time to vote. In fact, the vast majority of residences who could vote don’t even register to vote. They don’t want to….
Low turnout reflects hypocritical monitoring systems By Ray Hanania Southwest News-Herald Newspaper Friday April 12, 2013 Everyone likes to blame the low voter turnout each year on the “low quality” or the “corruption” of elected officials in government, but I like to blame it on something else, the hypocrisy of the monitoring systems. Those “monitoring…
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