Second time around: Baise heads Department of Transportation

Gregory W. Baise of Springfield was named secretary of transportation by Gov. James R. Thompson for the second time, effective January 1. He had left in November 1985 to manage Thompson's 1986 campaign; he got his original appointment as transportation secretary following his stint in 1984 as executive director of the Reagan/Bush '84 campaign in Illinois. Baise joined the Thompson administration as an assistant to the governor in 1977, then became assistant to the governor for scheduling and appointments and in December 1980 was director of government operations in charge of personnel. A 1974 graduate of Illinois College with a bachelor's degree in history and government, he was associate director of development for the college. In 1975 he became the youngest alderman ever elected to the Jacksonville City Council.

Baise, 34, replaced Harry R. Hanley, who retired December 31 after more than 40 years in the department, including his one year as secretary and almost nine as deputy secretary.

Legal counsels: England to Nuclear Safety, Seiple to Central Management Services

Stephen J. England of Springfield, chief deputy counsel of the Department of Transportation since 1979, was appointed chief legal counsel of the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety, effective November 16, by department director Terry R. Lash. England succeeded Stephen W. Seiple, who switched to the Department of Central Management Services as its chief counsel. From 1976-79 England was an assistant attorney general in the general law division of the Attorney General's Office.

Established in 1980, the Department of Nuclear Safety monitors nuclear power plants, regulates X-ray machines and other radiation-producing devices and oversees management of low-level radioactive wastes.

Jayne Thompson cochairs Governor's Task Force on Day Care

The governor in December named a Task Force on Day Care and appointed his wife, Jayne C. Thompson, as cochairperson. The new statewide panel will examine day care needs for children whose parents both work and for children from single-parent households. Co-chairing the 47-member panel of corporate, academic, philanthropic and community leaders is Elliot Lehman, chief executive officer of Fel-Pro Inc. of Skokie. (Several days after her appointment to this task force, Thompson resigned from her post as executive vice president of the Mid-America Committee of Chicago due to personal reasons.) The task force, whose members will receive expenses only, begins work this month considering new ways to provide day care services and resources to fund them. The task force will also examine some of the broader issues of day care, such as insurance, licensing and regulations. According to the governor, state government spent more than $40 million for employment-related day care programs that served more than 20,000 children last year. In addition, the state licenses and monitors more than 7,600 day care facilities. With six of every 10 mothers of preschool and school-age children in the labor force, the demand for quality day care services has exceeded the supply, according to the governor.

Nursing home care under study by another new task force

An Executive Task Force on Nursing Homes (created by H.B. 1473/P.A. 84-1268) is charged with helping the Illinois Department of Public Aid improve long-term care and find more cost-effective ways for the state to provide services. It will conduct a study of the delivery of nursing home care in Illinois and make recommendations concerning rates charged for nursing home care, reimbursements to nursing homes from state funds, peer review of delivery of services and quality of care. The first meeting of the task force, whose members include legislators and representatives from state agencies, local governments, nursing homes and the general public, was set for January 15 in Springfield. H.B. 1473 was sponsored by Sen. John A. D'Arco (10th) and Reps. Ellis B. Levin (5th), Steven G. Nash (11th) and Arthur L. Turner (18th), all Democrats from Chicago.

Legislative members include Reps. James A. DeLeo (D-16. Chicago) and Tom Ryder (R-97, Jerseyville); Sens. Virginia B. Macdonald (R-27, Arlington Heights) and Glenn Poshard (D-59, Carterville).

Members from Chicago include: Patricia Barger, representing Ann Kiley, director, Department of Mental Health; Joseph Bonnan, representing Illinois Association of Homes for the Aging; Sister Rosemary Connelly, executive director, Misericordia Heart of Mercy Nursing Home; Vida Madison, resident, William L. Dawson Nursing Home; Pete Peters, executive director, Illinois Council on Long Term Care; Jura Stanulis Scharf, association director, Catholic Conference of Illinois; Leon Shlofrock, Betcare Associates Ltd., also representing Illinois Council on Long Term Care.

Members residing in Springfield include Connie Eaton Cheren, chief, Bureau of Long Term Care for the Department of Public Aid; Edith DeLong, resident, Dirksen House Healthcare; R.A. Ligon, president, Illinois Nursing Home Administrators Association; Michael Phelps, representing Janet Otwell, director, Department on Aging; Bernard Turnock, director, Department of Public Health; Carol Van Dyke, chairman, Illinois Health Care Association; Joseph Warner, Illinois Health Care Association.

Other members from around the state include Laura Abernathy of Addison, director, Iona Gloss Specialized Living Center; Jacqueline Mason of Westmont, owner, Burgess Square; Michael Patchner of Champaign, professor, department of social work, University of Illinois; and Ronald Reineke of Wheaton, administrator, representing the County Nursing Home Association.

Thompson chairs national task force on teen pregnancy

Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, chairman of the National Governors' Association (NGA), appointed Gov. James R. Thompson chairman of the group's new Task Force on Teen Pregnancy. The task force, created last fall by the NGA, is to propose actions that states can take to battle the adverse health, social and economic consequences associated with teenage pregnancy and to improve programs of assistance to young parents. The task force will make its recommendations to the NGA in July.

In Illinois in 1983 Thompson initiated Parents Too Soon, the first comprehensive statewide program in the nation to address issues of teenage pregnancy, adolescent childbearing and teen parenting. Coordinating the services of 10 state agencies, the Illinois program works closely with parents, educators and religious and community leaders. It provided direct services to nearly 27,000 adolescents in fiscal year 1986 and reached another 62,000 teens and adults through community education, according to the governor's office.

The Judiciary

With terms for judges beginnning December 1, there was a plethora of appointments, assignments, and retirements announced recently by the Illinois Supreme Court.

Illinois Appellate Court

• New chairman of the state's appeals court for 1987: Glenn T. Johnson of Chicago who sits on the 1st District bench.

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• Appellate judges name to the Illinois Courts Commission: David Linn and Francis S. Lorenz, both of Chicago and from the 1st District; Allan Stouder of Kankakee from the 3rd District; and Frederick S. Green of Urbana from the 4th District. Green and Linn are alternate members.

1st district Appellate Court

Assignment extension: James C. Murray of Chicago, a circuit judge of the Cook County Circuit Court, to November 30, 1987.

2nd District Appellate Court

New assignments of circuit judges to serve on the appellate bench, effective December 1: Marvin D. Dunn of Batavia and the 16th Judicial Circuit; William R. Nash of Rockford and the 17th Judicial Circuit; and Lawrence D. Inglis of Antioch and the 19th Judicial Circuit. Inglis and Nash will serve through November 30, 1987, or until further order of the high court. The end date of Dunn's assignment was not specified.

• Termination of appellate assignment: Paul W. Schnake of Geneva, effective December 1, the date he retired as a circuit judge in the 16th Judicial Circuit.

3rd District Appellate Court

• Selection of presiding judge of the 3rd District and of the Appellate Court's Industrial Commission Division by the judges: Tobias Barry of Ladd on December 8 for one year.

4th District Appellate Court

• Appointment of presiding judge by the district's judges: Joseph R. Spitz of Charleston, effective December 1.

•  December 31st termination of the appellate court assignments of two circuit judges who have left the bench: Donald W. Morthland of Decatur, circuit judge of the 6th Judicial Circuit, who resigned his circuit judgeship, and Albert G. Webber III of Decatur, who had served on the appellate bench for nearly eight years, both as an assigned circuit judge and as a retired circuit judge. He had just completed a term as presiding judge of the appellate court's new Industrial Commission Division that deals with workers compensation cases. A judge since 1966, the court made note that "Judge Webber's erudite opinions have been the subject of considerable comment by the bench and bar."

Cook County Circuit Court

• Appointments of circuit judges to fill vacancies: Michael B. Getty of Dolton and John W. Gustafson, Ellis E. Reid and John J. O'Toole, all of Chicago. These four, whose appointments were effective November 26, were originally scheduled to retire on December 1.

• Appointment of supervising judge of the pretrial mediation section in the law division: Circuit Judge Anton J. Valukas of Palatine by Chief Judge Harry G. Comerford.

•  Retirements of Cook County circuit judges scheduled to retire on December 1 who did so: Ben Edelstein of Morton Grove, George A. Higgins of Chicago and Harry A. Schrier of Skokie.

2nd Judicial Circuit

•  Retirements: Circuit Judge George W. Timberlake of Albion on December 1 and Associate Judge Roland J. DeMarco of Mount Carmel on December 26.

3rd Judicial Circuit

• Appointment to circuit judge: Associate Judge Paul E. Riley of Edwardsville on December 22 to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of William Johnson.

5th Judicial Circuit

• Appointment to circuit judge: Associate Judge Richard E. Scott of Paris, effective December 3, to fill the vacancy created by the election of Carl Lund to the 4th District Appellate Court.

• Retirement: Circuit Judge Matthew A. Jurczak of Danville on December 1.

9th Judicial Circuit

• Appointment of associate circuit judge: Galesburg attorney James B. Stewart.

11th Judicial Circuit

• Retirement: Circuit Judge Robert L. Thornton of Lincoln on December 1.

13th Judicial Circuit

• Appointment of associate judge: Ottawa attorney James A. Lanuti.

14th Judicial Circuit

• Selection of chief judge: L.E. Ellison of Sterling.

• Appointment to Illinois Judicial Conference's executive committee: Circuit Judge John M. Telleen of Moline.

•  Retirement: Circuit Judge Jay M. Hanson of Geneseo on December 1.

16th Judicial Circuit

• Appointments of associate judges by the circuit judges: Robert C. Jenkins of Sycamore and Timothy Q. Sheldon of Elgin. Both were private attorneys.

17th Judicial Circuit

• Selection of chief judge: John C. Layng of Rockford.

• Appointment of circuit judge: former Winnebago County state's attorney Daniel D. Doyle of Rockford, effective December 1, to fill the vacancy created by the death of Robert Gill.

• Appointment of associate circuit judge: Robert G. Coplan of Durand.

18th Judicial Circuit

• Retirement of circuit judge: Lewis V. Morgan Jr. of Wheaton on December 1.

19th Judicial Circuit

• Selection of chief judge: Fred A. Geiger of Waukegan.

21st Judicial Circuit

• Selection of chief judge: Wayne P. Dyer of Kankakee.

Stamp new legislative liaison for governor

Zack Stamp of Springfield, who has been the governor's liaison to the Senate since September 1985, took over as the governor's director of legislative affairs in January. He replaced Kirk Dillard, 31, of Springfield, who left to join a law firm after serving five years on the governor's staff and more than four years on the Senate staff.

Stamp, 33, joined the governor's staff in 1977 as an assistant scheduler. He previously served two years as general counsel for the Senate Republican staff and from 1981 to 1983 was assistant to Senate Minority Leader James "Pate" Philip. Stamp received a bachelor's degree in political science from Western Illinois University in Macomb in 1975 and a law degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1980. From 1975 to 1976 he was deputy sheriff in McDonough County.

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Citizens Assembly staffers for new advocacy councils

Seven staff members have been named for the Citizens Assembly's advocacy councils, the seven legislative-public groups that replaced seven former special commissions.

Council on Energy Resources and Council on Economic Development: Valeri DeCastris of Springfield and Robert N. Staber Jr. of Waggoner. Previously, DeCastris was a research assistant at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale; Staber is a 1986 graduate of SIU.

Council on Children and Council on Women: Donna Ginther of Jacksonville and Kathy Robinson of Springfield. Ginther was a lobbyist with the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Illinois National Organization for Women, and Robinson was an administrative assistant with the Illinois State Labor Relations Board.

Council on Mental Health and Council on Public Aid: Nancy Heffley and Gail Helledy, both of Springfield. Previously, Heffley was employed with the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, and Helledy was a teacher with School District 186 in Springfield.

Council on School Problems: Paula Krager of Springfield. She was an administrative assistant with the Illinois Space Needs Commission.

The Citizens Assembly, the coordinating legislative commission for the councils, which began meeting last summer, has offices at 300 West Monroe in Springfield. Executive director is Steve Stalcup.

Ed Madigan joins Republican leadership in U.S. House; Michel unanimous choice for leader

U.S. Rep. Bob Michel (R-18, Peoria) was unanimously elected to his fourth consecutive term as House Republican leader in the first session of the Republican Conference of the 100th Congress on December 8. First elected GOP leader in 1980, Michel also served as minority whip from 1974 through 1980 and as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee from 1972 through 1974. Michel was elected to his sixteenth term in November.

On December 9, U.S. Rep. Edward R. Madigan (R-15, Lincoln) was named the GOP's chief deputy whip by House minority whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.). He fills the vacancy left by Tom Loeffler, who made an unsuccessful gubernatorial bid in Texas instead of seeking reelection to the House. Madigan's last party position in the House was as chairman of the GOP Research Committee in the 1981-82 Congress. He was elected to his eighth term in 1986.

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Congresswoman Martin stays in leadership — also weds

U.S. Rep. Lynn Martin (R-16, Loves Park) and Harry Leinenweber of Joliet were married January 7 in Washington, D.C. Martin was reelected vice chairman of the Republican Conference, the official body of Republicans in the House, in December. Martin, who was first elected to the House in 1980, has served in the leadership post since 1984. Leinenweber is a federal judge for the northern district of Illinois in Chicago.

Public administrators appointed for 23 counties

Gov. James R. Thompson has announced appointments and reappointments to public administrator, guardian and conservator positions in several Illinois counties. New appointments (listed by county) include: Brown County — Finis Hosford, 64, of Mount Sterling, retired assistant manager, installment and loan department, Farmer's State Bank and Trust Co.; Carroll County — John R. Lecomte, 38, of Savanna, attorney, John R. Lecomte Law Office; Clinton County — James Hummert, 32, of Breese, lieutenant, Sheriff's Office; Edgar County — Steven Garst, 36, of Paris, attorney, Ruff, Garst & Bell; Williamson County — Homer Askew, 72, of Marion, retired mediator, Department of Labor; Winnebago County — Stephen Ellis, 50, of Rockford, attorney, Ellis & Ellis Law Office. Hummert replaces James Swinney, Askew replaces Robert Butler and Ellis replaces William Moore. Hosford, Lecomte and Garst fill existing vacancies. Hosford was appointed in November and the others in July.

Reappointments include: Effingham County — F. Ronald Ealy, 51, of Effingham, attorney, Ealy & Meyer; Fulton County — Ronald E. McConkey, 50, of Fairview, president, Fairview State Banking Co.; Iroquois County — Roy A. Seiling, 66, of Gilman, farmer; Jackson County — Robert E. Fingar, 83, of Carbondale, real estate broker and insurance agent, Murphysboro Abstract Co.; Knox County — David McDonald, 50, of Galesburg, attorney, Lucas, Brown and McDonald; Logan County — Donald A. Behle, 29, of Elkhart, attorney, John R. Gehlbach Law Office; McHenry County — Anthony Varese, 74, of McHenry, retired president and chairman of the board, Executive National Life Insurance; Mercer County — Raymond W. Matter, 53, of Viola, farmer; Morgan County — Jack S. Mathews, 62, of Jacksonville, insurance agent, Connecticut Mutual; Ogle County — Homer L. Snyder, 71, of Byron, retired operating manager, Action Moving and Storage Corp.; Peoria County — Thomas H. Trager, 55, of Edelstein, attorney, Vonachen, Cation, Lawless & Slevin; Pike County — Barbara Sue Dyer, 53, of Pittsfield, chief deputy, Pike County State's Attorney's Office; Pope County — Jeanne Boglino, 44, of Golconda, secretary, Pope County State's Attorney's Office; Richland County — Jerry D. Miller, 37, of Olney, attorney, Bowen, Miller & Tungate; Sangamon County — Alfred B. LaBarre, 43, of Springfield, attorney, Ensel, Jones, Blanchard & LaBarre; Stephenson County — Doris Lenker, 63, of Orangeville, retired commercial underwriter; Tazewell County — Robert W. Winston, 76, of East Peoria, attorney, Robert W. Winston, Attorney at Law. The reappointments of Ealy, McDonald and Varese were announced in July and the others in November. All appointments and reappointments were effective immediately upon announcement and expire December 4, 1989. The positions, which exist in each county, pay fees only and require Senate confirmation.

Statehouse pressroom changes

Lee Enterprises' Statehouse bureau is operating at full staff again. Anthony Man has been named to succeed Mike Lawrence as bureau chief. Man had worked a year and a half in the bureau and before that spent two and a half years as the political reporter for the Decatur Herald & Review, one of the four Lee papers served by the bureau. Two other reporters also joined the Lee bureau for the upcoming session: Cathy A. Monroe, formerly a reporter for another Lee paper, the Southern Illinoisan, was to join the bureau January 12, and Marc Allan, a 1986 graduate of Sangamon State University's Public Affairs Reporting (PAR) program and reporter for the News-Journal of Rockland County, N.Y., was scheduled to start February 2.

Illinois Issues has named its new Statehouse bureau chief, effective January 5: Mike Klemens. who served on an interim basis since October. A 1986 PAR graduate, he was previously a reporter and bureau chief for the Watertown (N.Y.) Daily Times.

WAND television station of Decatur also has a new reporter in the pressroom. Barbara Morse will cover general assignment stories in Springfield. She previously worked for radio station WNDE in Indianapolis.

The addition of Allan and Klemens boosts the number of PAR graduates in the pressroom to 13, a record high, according to Bill Miller, director of the program, and most of those PAR graduates are bureau chiefs. The PAR program is a master's degree program with each student working as an intern in the pressroom during the spring session. All those other new faes in the pressroom are the 1987 interns.

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Deaths

•  U.S. Rep. John Grotberg (R-14, St. Charles) died November 15 in St. Charles. He served two terms in the Illinois House (1973-1996) and two in the state Senate (1977-84). Elected to the U.S. Congress in 1984 and renominated for the office in the March 1986 primary, failing health caused him to withdraw from the race in May. Grotberg was 61.

•  Former state Sen. John Knuppe, 63, also died November 15, in Springfield. A Democrat, the Petersburg resident and attorney served in the Illinois General Assembly for a decade (1970-80) and was an assistant attorney general, 1960-68. He was also a delegate to the Sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention, 1969-1970.

•  William L. Schaub, 58, of Springfield, died there November 24. A former Chicago journalist, Schaub spent the last two decades in state government. Eleven of those years were spent working for Illinois attorneys general, as information director under William Clark and William J. Scott and as Neil F. Hartigan's administrative assistant. Schaub also spent five years as Comptroller Roland Burris' information chief.

•  Orville E. Hodge, 83, of Granite City, former state representative and state auditor of public accounts from 1953 until his resignation in 1956 following exposure of his theft of more than $1.5 million from state funds he was supposed to safeguard, died December 29 in Edwardsville. Hodge pleaded guilty to embezzlement and deeded over his holdings to make restitution. He served nearly six and one-half years in prison for his crime.

•  James C. Helfrich, 71, assistant director of the Department of Conservatio and a 33-year veteran of the department, died December 18 in Decatur. Among his long list of accomplishments at the department is the creation of the magazine, "Outdoor in Illinois," the forerunner of "Outdoor Highlights."

Honors

Keep America Beautiful Inc.'s Distinguished Service Award in the state category went to Illinois Clean and Beautiful, a statewide cooperative effort by the governor, legislators and the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs since January 1986 to encourage the proper handling of litter and to help business, industry, civic, labor and governmental agencies implement community beautification programs.

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