People by Beverley Scobell

PEOPLE
Edited by Beverley Scobell

Rejected

Former Chicago Board President
D. Sharon Grant can't buy a break
these days. She has been judged an
unsuitable candidate for the Intensive
Confinement Center, or "boot camp,"
adjoined to the federal prison in
Bryan, Texas. Grant is scheduled to
report to the prison March 4 to begin
serving the remaining 16 months of a
21-month sentence for tax evasion,
The boot camp tour would have
shortened her stay in Texas to six
months, with the remainder of her
sentence spent at a halfway house
Chicago.

Courted

When Secretary of State George
Ryan endorsed Texas Sen. Phil
Gramm for the Republican presidential
nomination, he gave a back-door
nod to US. Senate Majority Leaders
Bob Dole —just in case Gramm's
candidacy sank.
Gramm dropped out of the race in
I mid-February after a poor showing in
the Iowa caucuses — one national
network reporter observed that he
had the buoyancy of a rock after the
Louisiana caucuses — and Dole's Illinois
forces immediately began courting Ryan
for Gramm's delegates. As
of press time, Ryan was holding out.
What with Lamar Alexander's strong
polling numbers, his people are also;
knocking on Ryan's door.

Resigned

Richard Semonin, who is chairman
of the task force that will write the
siting standards for a nuclear waste
dump in Illinois, resigned in mid-February.
The group will make recommendations to
the state soil and water surveys, which will
then find at least 10 locations that
meet the standards.

H O N O R S

U.S. Sen. Paul Simon donated more than $168,000 from his campaign fund to various charities and philanthropic organizations. More than $37,000 went to Illinois organizations: $25,000 to his wife Jeanne's alma mater, Barat College in Lake Forest; $10,000 to Israel Arts and Science Academy in Chicago; $1,000 each to the Carbondale Public Library, home of Southern Illinois University where he will teach and do research upon his retirement from the Senate, and to Troy Public Library, the city where Simon lived and published the local newspaper early in his career. The senator also donated to the Sojourn Women's Center in Springfield.

Outside his home state, Simon donated the largest amount, $100,000, to Dana College in Blair, Neb., where he spent two years before quitting to buy the Troy weekly. He is on the college's board of trustees, and his donation will help students who want to study abroad. He gave $10,000 to the [President Jimmy] Carter Center in Atlanta, Ga., and $5,000 each to the "New York-based Armenian General Benevolent Association, the Barbara Bush Foundation, the NAACP and the United Nations Association. He donated $1,000 to the Women's Bar Association based in Washington, D.C., for scholarships for underprivileged women pursuing law degrees.

A spokesman for Simon says the senator has more than $121,000 left in his war chest and that he will probably make other donations to charities.

* * *

William Julius Wilson, sociology professor at the
University of Chicago, has accepted a position at
Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of
Government beginning next fall. During his 25-year
tenure at U of C, Wilson's scholarship has
attracted a national following. He says he was
drawn to Harvard by the prospect of joining other
African-American scholars who hope to have an
impact on national social policy.

SENATE RACE THINNING

Chicago lawyer calls it quits

Clint Krislov of Wilmette ended his campaign in early February for the U.S. Senate Democratic primary. Krislov claimed he was hurt by a challenge to his petition signatures made by U.S. Rep. Richard Durbin, who is also trying to win the Democratic nomination. Of the 10,080 signatures filed at the State Board of Elections by Krislov, the Durbin camp objected to 9,201. J. Patrick Hanley, a Chicago election law attorney, says he felt sure there was enough evidence to throw out more than 5,200 signatures on Krislov's petitions, which would have left the candidate with fewer than the required 5,000 to remain on the ballot.

A political unknown, Krislov said the petition challenge tied up resources he needed to get his name and his message before the voters. However, he said he would have survived the petition challenge. He withdrew the day before the Board of Elections hearing.

Krislov's withdrawal left the race to the top two contenders, Durbin and former state Treasurer Pat Quinn. Durbin has the endorsements of both Sen. Paul Simon and Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, but Quinn has the advantage of statewide name recognition.

36 * March 1996 Illinois Issues

Ellen Hankes

New president for
Pork Producers Assn.

The Illinois Pork Producers Association passed a milestone in the group's 49-year history when it elected Ellen Hankes of Fairbury as its first woman president. Hankes and her husband raise about 10,000 hogs a year on their family farm in Livingston County.
Hankes takes over at a time when the association has experienced a 25 percent drop in membership, from 9,127 in 1990 to 6,734 in 1995. That parallels a drop in the state's hog numbers, the lowest census in 60 years. Illinois fell from second to fourth in the nation in pork production. The governor's Livestock Industry Task Force is considering the issue of large commercial hog farms. It sent recommendations to the governor at the end of February.

New rep for 57th

Gregg Goslin, a Republican from suburban Glenview, has been sworn into the House of Representatives. He replaces Kevin Hanrahan of Northbrook, who resigned the 57th
District House seat after one term to pursue a career in the private sector.
Goslin's tenure in Springfield may be short-lived, however. As Northfield Township Republican committeeman, it was expected he would appoint fellow Glenview Republican Beth Coulson to serve the rest of Hanrahan's term. Coulson was selected by her district's Republican committeemen for the position.
Coulson, though, decided to remain in the district and campaign for the March primary instead of coming to Springfield.
If she wins the race, many expect Goslin will resign the seat.

Recuse me!

Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan is seeking to move the politically charged case involving state-backed loans to the developers of two hotels.
But could his point on venue become moot?
Already, two Madison County judges have recused themselves from the case. Associate judges Ann Rongey and David Herndon removed themselves, citing connections to William Cellini — a principal in one of the loans.
The case stems from state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka's controversial decision to settle for $10 million on $40.3 million in loans.
The arrangement was made with Cellini, who owns the Springfield Renaissance, and Gary Fears, who owns the Collinsville Holiday Inn. Both are political fund-raisers.
After (he deal was quashed by Ryan, the owners sued Topinka in an effort to force her to carry out the agreement. They filed the case in Madison County.
Dennis McMurray of the Alton Telegraph reported that Rongey's father, Lance Callis, is a major stockholder in Argosy Gaming Co., as is Cellini. Argosy owns the Alton Belle riverboat casino. Herndon excused himself because he is a stockholder and was one of the original partners with Cellini in Argosy.
Ryan wants the case moved to Springfield or Chicago.
In other developments, Ryan and Topinka have agreed on an accounting firm to examine the hotels' books.
Jennifer Haiperm

Yes, but do you know who we are?

Illinois Supreme Court Justice James D. Heiple, who got the public's attention with his 1995 opinion to return Baby Richard to his biological father, has made his way back into the headlines again.
This time, the attention stems from his arrest in late January for an alleged scuffle with Pekin police. Heiple was charged with resisting arrest and disobeying a police officer after he allegedly tried to ignore the cop who had pulled the jurist over after clocking him at 43 miles per hour in a 30 mph zone.
An officer said Heiple left the scene. He then allegedly drove to his home, ignoring officers' signals to pull over, and struggled with police before being arrested. Heiple, who has served five years of a 10-year term, reportedly asked, "Do you know who I am?"
Heiple's lawyer indicated the justice is considering a federal lawsuit against the police and city officials, saying his civil rights were violated and he was subjected to excessive force.
Ironically, when he was an appellate court judge, Heiple had taken a harsh view of people who resist police efforts to make an arrest.
The Springfield-based Capitol Fax newsletter reported that Heiple was the lone dissenter in People v. Villarreal before the Third Illinois Appellate District court. The case centered on whether citizens have the right to resist an arrest if they think police are wrong.
Heiple wrote that "... the act of making an arrest is authorized to the extent that a person may not use force to resist or obstruct an arrest even though the arrest may be unlawful."

Technology group names new chairman

The Illinois Coalition named Robert J. Currey as its new chairman. Currey, president of Consolidated Communications Inc. of Mattoon, succeeds Larry D. Haab, the chairman, president and CEO of Illinois Power in Decatur.

Illinois Issues March 1996 * 37