Sounds of Summer Concert – Disco Circus

Sounds of Summer Concert – Disco Circus

No Contests

Perennial gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey has filed legal paperwork to knock his opponent Collin Corbett off of the ballot. Typically a political campaign does not want to be associated with embarrassing legal tricks such as these. To maintain a veneer of anonymity, a campaign will recruit a citizen stooge to file the paperwork for them. But in the case of the Bailey campaign, that citizen stooge is Lieutenant Governor candidate Aaron Del Mar:

The Bailey campaign's objection in the governor's race to Corbett was filed with the State Board of Elections by the Republican's running mate, Aaron Del Mar
Illinois GOP governor nominee Darren Bailey seeks to block independent from Nov. 3 ballot

Does this mean that support for the Bailey campaign is so thin that they were unable to find someone outside of their ranks to do their legal dirtywork? No, more likely, this simply means that no one knows who Aaron Del Mar is, and he was just as good a choice as anyone.

In related news, more than half of the Democratic candidates in Lake County are running unopposed:

Of the 31 contests for the Illinois General Assembly, countywide positions, the Lake County Board seats and the North Shore Water Reclamation District, 16 are unopposed
Nearly half of Lake County candidates running in November election face no opponent

A spokesman for the Lake County GOP said: "This is part of our national strategy to suppress the vote. If we knock every candidate off of the ballot and if we don't run any candidates of our own, then the voter has no reason to go to the polls in November."

Who's Your Data

Did you hear the one about the data farm that put cow chips in all of the computers? It wanted to produce AI-slop.

HaHa. Will Grayslake be the site of Lake County's first data center? Maybe not:

The development of the Grayslake T5 data center could soon face a legal challenge after a local opposition group issued a litigation hold against the village.
Legal challenge to Grayslake data center project likely: 'The juice isn't worth the squeeze'

With a nearby data center sucking up all of your ground water and electricity what's to hate?

Coming up next: The Waukegan Airport annexes data center in Grayslake.

Bailey Out

The Lake County GOP had their opportunity last week to see honorary Lake County Governor Darren Bailey in honorary Lake County village South Barrington.  That is, until the crooked judicial system intervened:

A political dinner that was scheduled for Thursday in the northwest suburbs to benefit Republican governor candidate Darren Bailey was postponed after the Tribune raised questions about whether the event complied with a 4-year-old Illinois law prohibiting candidates from holding fundraisers anywhere in the state when the legislature is in session in Springfield.
Fundraiser for Illinois GOP governor candidate Darren Bailey delayed after Tribune raised ethics law questions

Bailey was caught red handed violating a statute -- one he voted for as a legislator -- that prohibits campaign fundraising when the legislature is in session:

The Barrington Township Republican Organization had invited supporters in an online advertisement to "a very private dinner" Thursday at a South Barrington restaurant with Bailey and running mate Aaron Del Mar. The $500-per-plate dinner, limited to 25 seats, would have been "paid for by the BTRO with all NET proceeds from dinner benefiting Bailey for Illinois".
Fundraiser for Illinois GOP governor candidate Darren Bailey delayed after Tribune raised ethics law questions

This comes after Bailey had violated the same law by holding a fundraiser in Joliet:

GOP governor candidate Darren Bailey held fundraiser on legislative session day in apparent violation of ban

How extensive is Bailey's ignorance of campaign finance law? Bailey recently held a fundraiser in the Broadview Six grand jury room -- and while US Attorney Andrew Boutros was improperly influencing that same grand jury:

U.S. attorney acknowledges speech to ‘Broadview 6’ grand jury as calls for his resignation mount

Coming up: You are cordially invited to a fundraiser to benefit Darren Bailey. Address to be provided by the Nuclear Power Agency of Iran.

Air of Confusion

The tinfoil theocrats at the McHenry County Blog are fuming. They are fuming over leaf burning. Leaf burning creates air pollution and air pollution makes people with respiratory ailments suffer:

Oh for the days after Republican Governor Richard B. Ogilvie signed legislation preventing open burning.
Where McHenry County Allows Those with Asthma To Suffer

There was a time, back in the day, when leaf burning was banned:

That was when we could sleep with our windows open.
Richmond Leaf Vacuuming Making Me Envious Again on Friday

They are also fuming over something else -- mosquito spraying. They are fuming because their municipality is -- wait for it -- not polluting the air with insecticides:

The mosquito abatement of unincorporated areas in Algonquin Township, but not in municipalities has been a pet peeve of mine for years. Why should those living outside municipalities get spraying, but not my neighborhood in Lakewood?
Algonquin Township Board Considering Cessation of Mosquito Spraying in Unincorporated Areas

Note to Ops: Repeated exposure to compromised air may lead to long-term cognitive impairment. In related news, the weather man says when in McHenry County to watch out for dense brain fog.

May Newsletter from the Lake County Clerk's Office

May Newsletter from the Lake County Clerk's Office

Agents of Shields

Here's the setup: Township trustees are poorly compensated, therefore it is often difficult to fill township seats. This is where local businesses see their opportunity. Just pack those seats with trustees who will vote for township projects that benefit local businesses. What could go wrong?

HaHa, it's called the Annual Township Meeting -- where once a year in April, the reins of township government are handed over to the voters:

In a well-attended Shields Township meeting last month, residents voted "overwhelmingly" to strip Shields of the ability to purchase, sell or lease property, according to township staff.
Residents strip Shields Township of leasing power: 'The public made their point'

It's looking like Shields Township won't be making any capital expenditures, at least before the courts sort everything out. One local businessman told your LakeCountyEye: "We might as well just abolish township government, if it can't be relied on any more to spread around the wealth."

Next Week: Townships are required to maintain public cemeteries -- while "cemetery vote" refers to deceased people who show up at the polls. Coincidence?

Hunt Club Park Playground Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Renaming Celebration

Hunt Club Park Playground Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Renaming Celebration

All We are Saying is Give Peace Pole a Chance

Overheard during an anti-war protest in downtown Lake Zurich: "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here -- this is the Peace Pole!"

HaHa. The peace pole is the new third rail of Lake County politics:

Ela Township's "peace pole" — etched with the word "peace" in 60 different languages — has become the center of community strife. At Wednesday's Committee of the Whole meeting, about a dozen residents voiced support for the peace pole and more than 30 emails were included in the agenda packet endorsing it and criticizing Trustee Larry Bowman for allegedly raising the possibility of its removal.
Ela Township peace pole becomes subject of community strife: 'Symbol of peace and justice'

Legally speaking, the pole belongs to the Township, and as such the Township would bear any legal liabilities.

One anti-peace-pole partisan said: "It's only a matter of time before the guy who rams into the Long Grove Bridge will ram into the peace pole. And now you're talking to his personal injury attorney."

Operatives are asked to insert their own "10-foot pole" joke here.

Trumped Up

Check out this actual unretouched screencap from the McHenry County Blog:

An untutored choice of words coming from the tinfoil theocrats at the McHenry County Blog -- who, in their defense, are coming from McHenry County. The correct choice of words is: DEI Hires

EtO Power

It is obvious by now that the Trump administration has packed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with climate change deniers. When Lake County stormwater managers asked when they can declare a flood emergency, a National Weather Service meteorologist said: "Whatever floats your boat."

HaHa. The rain may have stopped but it may not be safe to go outdoors just yet. The White House has also gutted Biden-era EPA safety restrictions on ethylene oxide emissions:

the E.P.A. replaced the 2024 regulations with a less stringent set. It justified this action by saying that it had been wrong to reëvaluate the risks of ethylene oxide in the first place, because it lacked the authority to do so. Coincidentally or not, the sterilizer industry's trade group had made this same argument in a 2024 legal filing.
Can the E.P.A. Survive Lee Zeldin?

Moreover, companies that didn't want to comply with even those relaxed restrictions could simply ...

apply for exemptions. All they had to do was send an e-mail to the agency. (The Administration described the waivers as necessary for "national security interests.")
Can the E.P.A. Survive Lee Zeldin?

One environmental watchdog said: "An industry member can always voluntarily observe the stronger ethylene oxide emission standards. But don't hold your breath."

Next week: Make America Healthy Again.

Bonfire & Brews: Food Truck Frenzy (21+)

Bonfire & Brews: Food Truck Frenzy (21+)

Not in Kansas Any More

Not content with just carpetbombing the Mideast, the Trump Administration is now photobombing the Lake County Gazette:

Lake County Gazette

All those mugshots are pictures of Dr Mehmet Oz. He is the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Dr Oz first rose to fame hawking patent medicines on the Oprah Show.

During the pandemic, he promoted the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a cure for COVID-19. (Dr Oz owns stock in companies that manufacture or distribute the drug.) Meanwhile, President Trump was so impressed he said he was taking hydroxychloroquine himself.

What is Dr Oz doing in the Lake County Gazette (Lake County's #1 fakenews source)? A spokesman for the publication said: "What is Dr Oz doing in the Trump Administration?"

Holy Wars

Today's pop quiz measures how well you remember your history units:

Q: When asked about the Catholic Church, this wartime dictator famously said: "How many tank divisions does the Pope have?"

If you named Joseph Stalin, that was a good guess -- but you are wrong. The correct answer is Donald Trump.

HaHa. Widely considered America's first gangster President, Donald J Trump has now picked a fight with the Pope:

"Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy," Trump posted on social media. In other interviews, the president said, "I'm not a big fan of Pope Leo. If I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican."
Column: President Trump targets pope in latest crude attack

Soon afterward, the State Department issued a travel advisory against visiting the Vatican City: "Hostile military operations shall commence there momentarily."

In related news the Mayor of North Chicago recently had an audience with the Pope:

North Chicago mayor part of delegation meeting Pope Leo XIV: 'I asked him to pray for our city'

Soon afterward, the State Department issued a travel advisory against visiting North Chicago: "Hostile military operations shall commence there momentarily."

Betty Russell Community Park – Concept Design Reveal & Feedback

Betty Russell Community Park – Concept Design Reveal & Feedback