Names

Miller and Craven to vie for Supreme Court seat

Republican voters in the Fourth Appellate District chose Appellate Court Judge Ben K. Miller of Springfield to vie for the Illinois Supreme Court seat being vacated by Justice Robert C. Underwood, Bloomington, who will retire in December. Miller will face Springfield attorney James C. Craven in the upcoming November election.

Miller garnered 57 percent of the vote in the 30-county district to defeat Fourth District Judge Frederick S. Green of Urbana. Craven was unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Miller, a graduate of Vanderbilt University's law school, began practicing law in Springfield in 1961. In 1982, he was elected to fill the vacant Appellate Court seat previously held by Craven. Prior to that, Miller was the presiding judge of the Sangamon County criminal felony division for six years.

Craven, a University of Illinois College of Law graduate, served on the Fourth District appellate bench for 17 years before resigning in 1981 to return to private practice.

June 1984/Illinois Issues/43

An Illinois State Bar Association poll, based on responses from 784 lawyers in the 30-county central Illinois region, deemed the two candidates qualified for the upcoming Supreme Court vacancy. The poll surveyed the attorneys' responses to 15 questions dealing with each candidate's judicial integrity, temperament and conduct, legal ability and court management. Candidates receiving over 90 points were rated as "highly qualified," those with over 70 were rated "qualified" and candidates with less than 70 received a "not recommended" rating. Miller scored 88.4; Craven's score was 81.9.

The Fourth District has never been represented by a Democrat on the Supreme Court. Justice Underwood, a Republican, has held the post since the district was formed 22 years ago.

Interim Citizens Utility Board named

Utility reform legislation last fall created an interim Citizens Utility Board (CUB). This temporary board is to pave the way for a permanent statewide panel that is intended to give citizens a stronger voice with the Illinois Commerce Commission (I1CC) in utility regulation and rates. The 11-member panel was appointed during February and March by the governor and the Democratic and Republican leaders of both the Illinois Senate and House.

Appointed by Gov. James R. Thompson were Lynne Donarski, McHenry, a member of the McHenry Planning Commission; Howard Learner, Chicago, a consumer activist and a staff attorney with Business and Professional People for the Public Interest; and the Rev. M. Earle Sardon, Chicago, a Baptist minister and president of the Crusaders of Justice.

Senate President Philip J. Rock (D-8, Chicago) appointed Sister Colette B. Jolie and William M. Daley, both of Chicago. Jolie is with the Austin Career Education Center. Daley, younger brother of Cook County State's Atty. Richard M. Daley, is a Chicago attorney.

Samuel Cahnman, Springfield, and Edna White Summers, Evanston, were the appointments of House Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D-30, Chicago). Cahnman, an attorney, has been active in the Coalition for Political Honesty which pushed for the creation of the CUB. Summers, a community leader, works with the Department of Children and Family Services in Chicago.

Sonny Wight, Downers Grove, and John A. Komar, Flossmoor, were appointed by Senate Minority Leader James "Pate" Philip (R-23, Elmhurst). Wight is a member of the architectural firm, Wight and Company. Komar is an independent construction consultant.

House Minority Leader Lee A. Daniels (R-46, Elmhurst) appointed Mary Ann Burgeson, Glen Ellyn, and Robert Dahlke, Burbank. Burgeson is a member of the League of Women Voters' state board. Dahlke, a retired Illinois Bell Telephone Company employee, is a legislative representative for the state conference of the Illinois Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Responsibilities of the interim board are the establishment of annual dues for CUB membership, determination of election dates for the permanent 22-member CUB and conducting a search for an executive director who will handle the day-to-day CUB operations. The interim positions pay expenses only and the permanent members are to be elected before the end of 1984.

Other appointments

James E. Ryan, Bensenville, to the Adult Advisory Board of the Department of Corrections, by the governor, effective March 12.  Ryan, a partner in the law firm of Ryan and Darrah, fills the position left vacant after the death of Reid Tombaugh. The board position pays expenses only and Ryan's term expires January 21, 1985.

Stan Mageria, Oak Forest, as veterans affairs officer in Illinois' district office of the U.S. Small Business Administration, by district director John L. Smith, effective last September. Mageria had served as a management assistant with the SBA since 1982.

Keith R. Lape, Springfield, as assistant to the president for continuing education at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, by the school's board of trustees, effective March 13.  Lape was previously assistant to the executive director of the Illinois Community College Board.

Karen Jennings Miller, Springfield, as deputy executive director of the Illinois Community College Trustees Association (ICCTA) by its board, effective April 1. She replaces Sharon Buchanan McClure, who is now a lobbyist for Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. Miller, previously assistant to ICCTA executive director Gary Frank Petty, is a doctoral student in political philosophy at Temple University. She was an assistant professor of philosophy at Delaware State College from 1969-1980, served two terms as a legislator in Delaware and worked in the state's community college system as an administrator.

Honors

The 1983 New Product Awards went to AT&T, Lisle, for its 5 ESS Digital Central Office Switching System, and Omnimedical Inc. Northbrook, for its Quad 1 Computerized Tomographic Scanner, a three-dimensional x-ray machine. This is the second year the Illinois Society of Professional Engineers Inc., in cooperation with the Office of the Governor, the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs and the Illinois Manufacturers' Association, sponsored this contest for inventors of new or improved consumer or industrial products which contribute significantly to the state's economy. "Illinois researchers are constantly making advancements that go unnoticed by the general public," according to Gov. James R. Thompson. "This competition brings these folks out of the laboratories to be recognized for their dedication to progress."

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The first annual Illinois Partner in Building Better Communities award was given by Gov. Thompson on March 26 to six Illinoisans for their contribution to volunteerism and private sector involvement. The honors, presented during the Governor's/United Way Human Services Breakfast, were awarded to the Rev. George Clements, pastor of Chicago's Holy Angels Catholic Church, for the One Church, One Child Program; Irving Harris, chairman of Pittway Corporation of Northbrook, for developing the Ounce of Prevention Program; Rep. Josephine Oblinger (R-100, Auburn), for drafting and working toward the successful passage of the Community Care Program; the Rev. Kenneth B. Smith Jr., pastor of Chicago's Church of the Good Shepherd, and Roger Frick, Danville, both of United Way, for their leadership in the Illinois Emergency Food and Shelter Program; and Don Perkins of Jewel Companies Inc., Chicago, for his efforts to expand funding for human services across the state.

Deaths

Former Illinois Atty. Gen. John Cassidy Sr., 88, on March 25 in Peoria. Cassidy died on the 37th anniversary of the 1947 Centralia mine disaster that claimed 111 miners' lives — a tragedy Cassidy was named to investigate by then-Gov. Dwight Green. A prominent Peoria attorney, Cassidy was a former trustee of Barat College of Lake Forest, a member of the University of Notre Dame Law School Advisory Council and director of the Peoria Journal Star newspaper.

John T. Reardon, 74, on March 16 in Quincy. Reardon, a former Fourth District Appellate Court judge and Eighth Judicial Circuit judge, served 13 years as chief judge since his appointment to the Eighth Judicial Circuit post in 1957. He was named to the Appellate Court in 1976 and retired in 1979. During his career, he served in 1971 as chairman of the Judicial Inquiry Board and was elected to the board of directors of the National Center for State Courts in 1973.

Richard P. Stone, 49, on February 24 in Springfield. President of Stone Seed Farms Inc., Pleasant Plains, he was a former chairman of the Illinois Community College Board, served on the initial study committee for Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield and was a trustee and vice chairman on the original board of that school. He also was a member of the Board of Higher Education from 1975-1977. Active in Republican politics, Stone served on various campaign committees for Sen. Charles H. Percy, former U.S. Rep. Paul Findley and Gov. James R. Thompson. Stone sat on the boards of directors of Illinois Power Co., the First National Bank of Springfield and the Firstbank of Illinois.