Names Shakeup in Public Health Controversy over the management of the state's trauma services program has caused a shakeup in the Department of Public Health (DPH). Dr. Allen N. Koplin, formerly the department's associate director, office of health services, resigned Septembers. Since 1975 Koplin had been in charge of the state's Emergency Medical System designed to get fast and sophisticated medical help to accident victims. After reports of alleged mismanagement of federal grant money from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, the General Assembly cut Koplin's salary to $1 this June. The salaries of two other DPH officials, George A. Akehurst, Springfield, the agency's chief fiscal officer, and James H. Thayer, Springfield, an associate director, office of management services, were funded only until December. Akehurst resigned his post and is now working as an accountant in the office of Director Paul Q. Peterson. Replacing Akehurst as chief fiscal officer is Harry C. Bostick, Chatham, who was appointed by Peterson September 12. Bostick has been with DPH since 1966 and was chief of the health services support unit. Appointments Eugene P. Heytow, Winnetka, to the Capital Development Board for a term ending January 1980 by the governor effective August 22, pending Senate confirmation. President and chief executive officer of the Amalgamated Trust and Savings Bank, Chicago, Heytow was named to fill the unexpired term of Robert K. Touhy, Elburn, who resigned. Circuit Judge Peyton H. Kunce, Murphysboro, as appellate judge to the 5th District Appellate Court, Mount Vernon. The assignment was made by Roy Gulley, administrative director of Illinois Courts, on behalf of the state Supreme Court effective September 1. Kunce replaced Richard Carter of Belleville who retired from the appointed position. Four appellate judges are elected in the district, and a fifth judge is appointed to handle the increased workload. George E. Bailey, Springfield, as assistant director, Department of Veterans Affairs, by the governor effective September 8 pending Senate confirmation. Bailey was in the U.S. Army tank forces during World War II and lost a leg and an eye as a result of wounds. With the department since 1945, he became manager of the department's 56 field offices in 1977. In his new post he replaced Walter J. Kesselman who resigned in August to become executive director of the Legislative Information Service. James F. McCarthy, Palatine, as assistant director of the Department of Law Enforcement by Director Tyrone Fahner, effective September 1 pending Senate confirmation. McCarthy has been deputy director, division of internal investigations, since 1977 and will continue in that post until a replacement is found. George Liu, Chicago, as director of the Hong Kong office. Department of Business and Economic Development, by the governor effective August 24. Liu, who has been in private law practice in Chicago for the last four years, replaced Henry I. Green, Champaign, who resigned. The Hong Kong office was established in 1973 to develop trade and investment prospects and potential business for the port of Chicago. Lou V. Brewer, Joliet, as warden of the Stateville Correctional Center at Joliet by Department of Corrections Director Charles J. Rowe effective September 7. Brewer had been warden of the Iowa State Penitentiary, Fort Madison, Iowa, since 1969. He replaced Ernest E. Morris who resigned in July.
Dr. Michael Schmidt, Springfield, as manager of the new policy and research division, Illinois Commerce Commission (IllCC) by commission chairman Charles P. Kocoras effective June 21. Schmidt was formerly staff economist for the IllCC. The division will develop policy options and do long-term research on utility regulation. Among its projects are analyses of utility accounting systems, tax benefits, pricing, life-line rates, productivity, energy conservation programs, load management and more consistent methods of determining the rate-of-return (amount of earnings stockholders fill and bond holders are allowed to receive). New appointments in the Department of Conservation include: John W. Comerio, Springfield, as associate director of planning and development by Director David Kenney in August. Comerio had been the department's regional land manager for northeastern Illinois since 1975. He replaced Harry Wirth who returned to Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Also appointed by Kenney were two former wildlife biologists, William Allen, Auburn, as chief waterfowl biologist, effective June 15, and John Kube, Benton, to the newly createdpost of forest game assistant staff biologist, effective June 1. Peter K. Lennon, Springfield, as program manager, Department of Local Government Affairs, by acting director J. Thomas Johnson in July. Previously coordinator for the Illinois Areawide Project for rural community development, Lennon replaced Jane Voget who accepted a post in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C. Barbara Kashian Gubbins, Chicago, as director of communications for the Bureau of Employment Security, Illinois Department of Labor, in September by bureau administrator C. Thomson Ross. A write and editor, Gubbins was director of The Friends of Channel 11 (WTTW, Chicago). 32/November 1978/Illinois Issues
Carolyn Schisler, London Mills, elected as a member of the Democratic National Committee by the Democratic State Central Committee effective September 7. Schisler will also serve as the chairwoman of the state committee's female advisory board. Schisler replaced Anna Wall Scott. John McGuire, Springfield, as head of Midwest operations, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), by Douglas Costle, USEPA administrator, effective in September. McGuire is responsible for Region Five which includes Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. A Department of Conservation director under former Gov. Daniel Walker, he has worked since 1977 in Walker's law firm in Springfield. McGuire replaced George R. Alexander who returned to private business. Bill Lambrecht, Springfield, as Illinois political correspondent for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in October. Lambrecht, who had been Springfield correspondent for the Alton Telegraph, replaced Jerome P. Curry, Springfield. Charles R. Bernardini, Chicago, was elected state chairperson of the Independent Voters of Illinois this summer for a one-year term. Bernardini, an attorney, succeeded Margaret Michalski, Chicago. James (Mack) Trapp, Chicago, as chairman of the board of directors, Illinois Institute for Continuing Education, for a term ending in 1979. Trapp, an attorney, replaced John J. Vassen, Belleville. The institute, sponsored by the Illinois State and Chicago Bar Associations, provides seminars and handbooks to keep lawyers up-to-date on developments in the legal profession. Alfred J. Holzman, Bloomington, was elected president of Illinois Downtown Executives at its first meeting in July. The organization was formed to encourage redevelopment and improvement of downtowns in Illinois. Hoizman, who is executive vice-president of Bloomington Unlimited, Inc., says Downtown Executives is open to city officials, administrators, officers of downtown development corporations and others who have a decisionmaking capacity regarding the future of downtowns. Resignations John E. Corbally, Urbana, as president of the University of Illinois effective August 31, 1979. Corbally has been president since September 1971, and his announcement came as a surprise at the September 20 meeting of the university Board of Trustees. After a one-year sabbatical, he will accept a teaching position at the university's Urbana-Champaign campus in the College of Education. The Board of Trustees will set procedures for selecting a new president. Nick Stone, Springfield, as State Fair manager effective October 31. Stone became manager in 1976 and had been assistant manager since 1974. He cited his low salary and the possibility that the State Fair Agency may be merged with the Department of Agriculture as reasons for his resignation. The merger is one of the recommendations made by Gov. James R. Thompson's Cost Control Task Force. Deaths George W. Bliss, 60, in Oak Lawn September 11. A top investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune for over 30 years, Bliss was a Pulitzer Prize winner in 1962. 1973 and 1976. He began working with the Tribune in 1942 and was labor editor from 1953 until 1968. U.S. Rep. Ralph H. Metcalfe, 68, on October 10 in Chicago. Metcalfe was running for his fifth term as Democratic representative from the 1st Congressional District on Chicago's Southside. A world famous runner and Olympic medal winner during the 1930's, he began his political career in the 3rd Ward in 1952. In 1970 he was nominated for the 1st District seal vacated by the death of Rep. William L. Dawson. Metcaife broke with the Democratic organization in 1972 over the issue of police brutality to blacks.
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