Most recent blog entries

1st Order of Business: No Crying

UofI Sports Fan — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 03:48:00 GMT

During and after the embarrassing performance at Nebraska, there were players crying on the bench and in the locker room. You can cry when your grandmother dies. You don't f#$%ing cry when you lose a basketball game.

Charles Linville Founder of Ploughman Analitics is Guest on One on One Sunday

Alex Ruggieri — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 07:10:00 GMT

This week's show will air Sunday at 10:00a on WCIA channel three. All interviews are posted on web at www.ruggieriteam.com

Hostile Takeover: Rolling Acres

Eric Bussell — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:38:00 GMT

For years, residents in the Rolling Acres and part of the Cherry Hills subdivisions have been receiving fire protection from the village of Savoy, but administrators with the City of Champaign are now invoking a decades-old agreement and asking Savoy officials to stop providing that service.

Laura Frerichs kicks off this years INNOVATION CELEBRATION and Corporate chef for Meatheads, Jim Freeland on CIB this week!

Alex Ruggieri — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:12:00 GMT

This week's show will air Saturday at 11;00a and Sunday at 7:00p on WDWS 1400AM. The show will stream live at wdws.com and of course all interviews can be accessed on my website www.ruggieriteam.com

Town Hall II-CC District 6--11 March

pattsi petrie — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 04:58:00 GMT

Town Hall II, Champaign County District 6, 11 March

Are Two States Better Than One?

Matt Wavering — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:00:00 GMT

This month I am straying from the typical commercial real estate discussion and am jumping on the hot topic of politics. However, I'm not going to talk county politics, nor am I going to bring up the GOP nomination. I'm talking about Chicago versus the rest of Illinois. It has been brought up in the past, once in 1925 and again recently in late 2011 (Google it); can Illinois and Chicago part ways as two seperate states? I'm not here to argue in either direction, only to make a few observations and lay out a few facts. I'll let the readers of HI decide whether this is a bone-headed idea or a revolutionary thought.

While researching the idea, I found many instances where seperating Cook County from the rest of Illinois has been discussed. In most cases the idea has been shrugged off and forgotten...but why? Rather than follow in the same thought process, I decided to think of this idea objectively. Could Illinois be divided into two states, how would it be done, and what would be the benefits? Below is my proposal.

The biggest flaw that I have found in any past idea to seperate Chicago from Illinois is the fact that rarely does one county or one city stand on its own. Chicago or Cook County as a seperate state deos not make any sense. I look at it from the standpoint of a trade area or MSA (metropolitan statistical area). The U.S. Census has made it easy by defining the "Chicagoloand MSA" as 11 counties around Chicago including the city, the adjacent suburbs, and the "collar counties". For those of you doing your research, you will notice that the Census includes a few counties in Wisconsin and in Indiana as part of the MSA. In this scenario, I am only considering counties within Illinois. In addition to the Chicago MSA, I added Winnebago County (the Rockford MSA) to the mix, as Rockford is not too far off from being a northwestern suburb. That creates a new "state" consisting of 12 counties that I will call "The Commonwealth of Chicago".

I have a great image that I would love to share showing the new state, but unfortunately I cannot get the Image Manager to work today. Regardless, below are the stats on the two new states:

Commonwealth of Chicago

MSAs: Chicago & Rockford

Counties (12): Lake, Cook, Will, Kankakee, McHenry, Kane, Kendall, Grundy, Boone, Winnebago, DeKalb, La Salle.

Population: 8,246,489 (2010 Census)

State of Illinois

MSAs: Moline/Rock Island, Peoria, Bloomington-Normal, Champaign-Urbana, Danville, Decatur, Springfield, East St Louis.

Counties: the remaining 90 counties

Population: 4,584,143 (2010 Census)

What I find most intriguing about the resulting states are where they would fit in with the rest of the country in regards to population. Based on 2010 Census data, the Commonwealth of Chicago would be the #11 most populous state in the union, and the "new" State of Illinois would be the 25th most populous. Add the fact that Illinois would still have three Fortune 100 companies calling it home, and it becomes even more intriguing...#37 State Farm Insurance Co. (Bloomington), #39 Archer Daniels Midland (Decatur), #58 Caterpiller (Peoria). Could Illinois operate on its own financialy, without the support of the twelve northeastern counties?

The benefits to the split are pretty obvious:

Illinois could seperate itself politically, socially, and financially from the ruling class in Chicago.
The capital city of Springfield would lie much closer to the median population center.
Chicago could get its own capital (likely in downtown Chicago) which would much more closely represent the will of the people.
Illinois rids itself of prison-bound governors and entrenched politicians like Mike Madigan.
Illinois could finally address the current financial issues facing our state, and Chicago could continue to spend itself into bankruptcy.

Being that this is a Champaign County blog, my list of benefits are mostly what I see as benefits to us downstaters. However, I'm sure there are many additional benefits to the people of the Commonweath that I am missing. For example, no longer would suburbanites have to claim us pitchfork carrying, gun-toting, rednecks as part of their state brotheren. Their politicians could commute 50 minutes from their suburban homes to the downtown capital, instead of jet-setting to Springfield to attend sessions. And, the boring agriculture topics would no longer be a burden to Commonwealth lawmakers.

I can already hear what many readers are thinking (its not that simple; it can't be done; it would never work; no states have split since the Civil War). Yeah, I know it isn't simple...but you give me a plan to save our state that is more simplistic, and I'll give you a pat on the back and all the credit in the world. Illinois is facing a business climate that is forcing businesses out of the state at an alarming rate, trends are showing a mass exodus out of Illinois (it's not like the weather is going to keep people here), and the true unemployment rate is likely around 15% with few signs of improvement. Are two states better than one? From my perspective, it can't be much worse.

Local Food Policy Council--CB--14 Feb

pattsi petrie — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 06:43:00 GMT

Local Food production and enhancement as a means of economic development in the county.

Wednesdays Game Vs Purdue may be win or get fired for Bruce Weber

UofI Sports Fan — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:49:00 GMT

The Illinois basketball team is in a bit of a tailspin. They have lost 6 of their last 7 including 2 losses at home. Illini fans are not used to watching the team lose at home and may not accept another loss to a rebuilding Purdue team that easily handled them earlier in the year. The team then goes on the road for 2 games which we should probably expect to lose. That would make for a 6 game losing streak. Would the team just give up at that point? The flipside is that they could win easily, save Bruces job, get a couple road wins and make a run in the tournament. It certainly adds some drama and pressure to what would be a fairly humdrum game. 7:30 on the Big Ten Network

Examples of Sustainability Efforts in other counties

pattsi petrie — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 04:03:00 GMT

Sustainability efforts in counties throughout the USA.

Meet local entrepreneur Victor Fuentes of the El Toro restaurant chain and hear Donna Giertz share her marketing expertise on CIB this week.

Alex Ruggieri — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:47:00 GMT

This week's show will air Saturday at 11:00a and Sunday at 7:00p on WDWS Newstalk 1400AM. Note: The show is streamed live at WDWS.com. All shows can be accessed at www.ruggieriteam.com