The Evil One?

A few weeks prior to Memorial Day, Lake County honors those law enforcement officers that have fallen in the line of duty. The 2014 Lake County Police Memorial was held this year on May 9 in Waukegan.

The News-Sun covered the ceremony.

Police honor those who made 'ultimate sacrifice'

The News-Sun reported who spoke at the ceremony and provided some breakout quotes.

• Lindenhurst Police Chief Kevin Klahs
• Waukegan Police Chief Wayne Wallace
• Lake County State's Attorney Michael Nerheim
• Lake County Undersheriff Raymond Rose

Strangely, the News-Sun did not mention that Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran spoke at the ceremony. He was the last speaker and can be seen on the Lake County video of the event.

2014 Police Memorial

I don't know if the omission was accidental or deliberate or if the News-Sun simply ran out of room to publish any of Curran's remarks.

To make up for the omission, I've provided some breakout quotes, taken from Curran's address on that day.

• "We must know the Evil One does not want us to succeed."
  
  
• "The Devil has no interest in seeing you being able to do your jobs well."
  
  
• "We have to be engaged in prayer."
  
  
• "We have to be joyful no matter how tough it is out there. And that's something that is only going to come from the grace above and our prayer life."
  
  
• "Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness sake. We don't need chameleons. We don't need that little reptile that tries to blend in the environment so he's not noticed."

Odd thoughts for a public ceremony to honor fallen police officers?

Curran's speech begins at about the 29:45 mark.

Come On In, the Water's Fine!

The Village of Wauconda woke up and smelled the coffee. And that may be because the coffee was brewed not with clear, sparkling Lake Michigan water -- but with stale, fetid municipal well water.

Wauconda wants to get in line for free Lake Michigan water, and named a representative to the Central Lake County Joint Action Water Agency board. They sent, however, not their Mayor, but some low-man-on-the-totem-pole village Trustee, instead. The Daily Herald noted that ...

Mayors typically serve as the emissaries, but the water agency board members have criticized Wauconda Mayor Frank Bart's actions during negotiations last year and explicitly said they wouldn't allow Wauconda to join if he was the representative.
Trustee Lincoln Knight to represent Wauconda on water agency

CLCJAWA charter member Round Lake is pleased as punch (brewed with fresh, effervescent Lake Michigan water) -- and welcomed to the Board's ranks Wauconda as well as the Village of Volo. The Mayor of Round Lake told the Suburban Life Media ...

If Wauconda and Volo both join, he said, Round Lake still wins with a south route that will provide redundancy for the village's water system, which would provide another source of water. "Now, if there is one catastrophic break, your system is down," the mayor said.
A win-win for Round Lake?

Your LakeCountyEye observes if there is one catastrophic break, more than the system will be down. Lake Michigan drains into Lake County. Mayhem ensues.

Haha, j/k. The Mayor of Round Lake, of course, is engaging in hyperbole -- no one seriously worries over a catastrophic break in the extensive CLCJAWA network of viaducts, reservoir canals and underground pipes. Or do they?

Back in the day (circa 2010) your LakeCountyEye predicted just that -- a catastrophic break at just about where the Route 53 Extension would cross over the CLCJAWA water main:

Collision Course

Readers of this blog heard it here first.

Your LakeCountyEye: predicting the future since August of 2010!

Ski Party

The number one question niggling the thoughts of every man, woman and child in Lake County is: Who will be the next Speaker of the US House of Representatives?

Don't bet on John Boehner. According to CNN ...

Some conservatives unhappy with House Speaker John Boehner's leadership are looking for a replacement, and recent moves by Texas Republican Jeb Hensarling are fueling speculation he wants Boehner's job in the next Congress.
Conservatives float alternative to Boehner

If the name of the aforementioned Texas Congressman sounds familiar, that's because Van Helsing is the narrator of Bram Stoker's gothic novel Dracula. Haha, j/k. As reported in this blog ...

Ski Moguls

Jeb Hensarling is the chair of the powerful US House Financial Services Committee and he throws a big fundraiser for his lobbyists every year at a white-glove ski resort in Utah. If Utah white-glove ski resort sounds familiar, that's because (also reported in this blog) Peter Roskam's congressional PAC has paid for junkets to the same ski resort -- the St. Regis Deer Valley -- four years running.

If the name Peter Roskam sounds familiar, that's because he is a Congressman who represents part of Lake County. As reported in this blog ...

The Whig Party?

like Hensarling, Peter Roskam wants to move up in the House Republican leadership, and covets the post of Majority Whip. Uniform sources tell your LakeCountyEye that a sweeping House coup had been cooked up at the St. Regis, over the Sous Vide Beef and Charcoal Aged Boulevardiers.

The next St. Regis fundrasiser is scheduled for the Spring of 2015. It is unknown whether any vampire hunters will be among the guests.

Red Light Camera Obscura

If you are like your LakeCountyEye, you are spending the holiday weekend stuck in a traffic backup at some blinkin' red light. And thumbing down the RSS news feed on the BlackBerry.

Haha, if you hate red light cameras, someone has taken that cause all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court. According to the Daily Herald ...

Attorneys for drivers who got red-light tickets in Chicago told the Illinois Supreme Court today the state law that allows for the traffic cameras in the suburbs is unconstitutional.
Attorney: Red-light cameras "nakedly" unconstitutional

The Court has not ruled yet. But Lake County municipalities are already preparing for a worst-case scenario: what to do with all the cashiered red light cameras if they get ruled unconstitutional. Your LakeCountyEye has been told that opinions are divided. At least 10 ways to repurpose that decommissioned red light camera are under consideration:

Ten Alternative Uses for a Lake County Red Light Camera

Free LCDOT selfies! Souvenir for the Dan Duffy trophy wall. Photograph Route 53 Extension toll runners. Rejigger them into Automated Speed Cameras. Tape Island Lake board meetings. Record a Lake County Best Day of My Life video. Live backyard chicken nest cam. Log actionable evidence against those slow moving CN trains. Nab card counters at the Waukegan casino. Boat anchor.

Hopefully the Illinois Supreme Court will rule soon. Your LakeCountyEye is waiting for the green light to blow off that red light.

The Whig Party?

Lake County's ladies man in congress, Peter Roskam, is wearing a new hat: Hard-Line Conservative. Despite the fact that he staunchly opposes abortion rights, Roskam has convinced the voters of his district that he is pro-women and a social moderate. But his carefully cultivated cover may be blown. Politico is reporting that Roskam ...

has his sights set on the majority whip post, but it could be a tough climb for the Illinois Republican. Hard-line conservatives, who dominate the House GOP Conference, are not sold yet on the idea that Roskam should be the whip, or that he is conservative enough for them — a perspective he is angling to change.
Peter Roskam courts the right

Reformed sources tell your LakeCountyEye that Roskam has been attending a right-wing indoctrination boot-camp at a top-secret location in the Utah mountains. The photographic evidence of Roskam's transformation is nothing short of hair-raising:

Peter Roskam 2006

Peter Roskam 2013

The metamorphosis from moderate republican to Hard-Line Conservative is enough to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up straight. It's miraculous what over-the-counter remedies can do for male-pattern dysfunction.

The ladies of the 6th Congressional District are advised to beware.

Too Rich for Their Flood

Hopefully all the Lake County snow does not melt too quickly -- your LakeCountyEye does not have flood insurance. One company -- Farmers Insurance -- is not waiting for the inevitable. According to the Chicago Tribune ...

nearly 200 communities in the Chicago area being sued by a major insurance company that is arguing the municipalities didn't do enough to prevent last year's record flooding. The suits, filed by Farmers Insurance Group, seek to force these communities — and by extension their taxpayers and, ironically, their insurers — to pay back Farmers for claims it paid out for flooding in spring 2013.
Insurers sue Chicago-area towns in bid to get flood money

Who doesn't want a piece of that action? When opportunists disturb the peace, your LakeCountyEye turns to the one person who can piece it all together, Dr. I.M. Bhatschidtkhrazzi, Professor of Risky Business at the College of Lake County.

Your LakeCountyEye met Dr. Bhatschidtkhrazzi at the Hunt Club Park Aquatic Center. He played his iPod and said, "You've nodoubt heard the Farmers Insurance jingle ..."

We Are Farmers -- Bum Ba-Dum Ba Bum Bum Bum

"Ever since they insure against floods, their new jingle has been the theme from Jaws ..."

Da-Dum ... Da-Dum ... Da-Dum ... Da-Dum

"With the hundred year flood now the new normal" he continued, "do not be surprised if Farmers attempts to recoup its losses by filing suit against communities that elect climate-change deniers. I expect them to file a big suit against the McHenry County Board any day now."

That was good for your LakeCountyEye to know. Would other insurers follow suit?

"I don't think AFLAC will. Their flood insurance losses are water off a duck's back. But there have been similar cases filed by other parties. One class-action suit pending against Lake County seeks damages for lost wages and profits because the County Board has failed to ramrod the Route 53 Extension through in a timely fashion."

Did Dr. Bhatschidtkhrazzi foresee copycat lawsuits?

"Absolutely." he said. "Any town that banned assault weapons last year is vulnerable to litigation. What's to stop a homeowner from suing his municipality that told him he cannot own an assault rifle? I can easily imagine some 2nd Amendment extremist arguing that he needs his machine gun to protect his property and family. These municipalities could be facing legal expenses to the tune of $90,000 and more!"

Your LakeCountyEye was all like: Oh Get Out!

"Stranger things have happened." chuckled Dr. Bhatschidtkhrazzi. "The claimant could be a an erstwhile pillar of the community. A golf pro or a bond salesman or maybe even a pediatrician. There's no telling which guy on the block is the gun nut."

Your LakeCountyEye heard enough. Was there any parting advice?

"Tell your operatives to watch out for 2nd Amendment lawsuits that seek reparation for firearms that were damaged because of flooding. Attorneys are calling these litigants Super Soakers."

Workin' on the Chain Gang

Lake County boreal congressman Randy Hultgren is on the record, and is against slavery. Hultgren, according to the Daily Herald ...

has been pushing legislation to fight human trafficking and said he looks forward to supporting proposals on the topic in Congress next week.
Hultgren fights trafficking

Hultgren's public opposition to human trafficking may not sit well with some Lake County Board Republicans. According to the News-Sun ...

Using the $33 million project that will lower the Rollins Road and Route 83 intersection below the Metra and Canadian National Railroad tracks as a back drop, County Board Chairman Aaron Lawlor expressed excitement about the start of road construction.
Lake County officials celebrate start of road construction season

Standing in front of what has been colloquially dubbed the Underground Railroad, Aaron Lawlor not only openly favors human trafficking but is spending $170 million taxpayer dollars on the hope that more humans will avail themselves of Lake County's traffic system.

Haha, j/k. Human traffic and traffic engineering are two different things totally.

Lawlor, however, did tell the News-Sun that ...

Lake is the only county in the Chicago region to use all of its sales tax money for transportation improvements.
Lake County officials celebrate start of road construction season

Note to operatives: If you are homeless or subsist below the poverty level, don't go to the County for a hand-up. Lake County spends all of its money on traffic improvements. If you need government welfare, your LakeCountyEye suggests getting a pickup truck & some shovels. And then get in line behind all those other road construction companies for your Lake County government handout.

For the record, the government of Lake County opposes slavery, too.

Ski Mecca

Lake County congressman Peter Roskam must love to hit the powder. As readers of this blog are highly aware ...

Snow Job

Roskam's congressional leadership PAC has flown people to a tony Utah ski resort in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Now this week Roskam was appointed to the House Benghazi investigation panel. Several House GOP insiders told the Chicago Sun-Times that ...

they saw the Roskam appointment as Boehner installing a stable "monitor" to keep tabs on the committee, make sure there are no surprises and insure it does not "go rogue" with over-reaching investigative sideshows that could end up backfiring on Republicans as the November mid-term elections loom.
Roskam named to Benghazi committee

One anomalous Roskam staffer, however, told your LakeCountyEye that nothing could be further from the truth. They said that Roskam was not strongarmed by the House leadership to spy on, and rein in, a committee that is widely seen as an election year political stunt. They told your LakeCountyEye instead that if you want Peter Roskam on your committee, all you need to say is congressional ski junket and he's all in.

A major Mediterranean seaport, Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya. Benghazi has a warm semi-arid climate, summers are hot and dry, winters are mild with occasional rain. Is it any surprise that Benghazi is the go-to destination for some of the best downhill skiing in the Eastern hemisphere?

Your LakeCountyEye is has taken the opportunity to embed a web-widget that can monitor the up-to-the-minute ski conditions in Benghazi, Libya. Operatives are advised to check this blog first, before booking that Libyan Airline flight out of O'Hare. Then hit those slopes!


Anglers, watch tomorrow for another LakeCountyEye exclusive: Peter Roskam's Benghazi fishing expedition widget!

Potential Rapprochement? Iran and U.S. beyond the Nuclear Agreement

Adlai Stevenson Center on Democracy

Narimon Safavi, Chicago based Iranian-American entrepreneur and regular commentator and analyst for Worldview, a public radio program on WBEZ, will speak about the problems and possibilities for future Iran/U.S. relations. Nari Safavi has served on the Chicago Committee of the Human Rights Watch, and numerous boards including the Gene Siskel Film Center, Latino Cultural Center of Chicago,the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, the DC based Citizens for Global Solutions and as an ambassador of the DC based National Iranian-American Council. A believer in the importance of multicultural understanding, he is currently engaged in developing COSMOPOLIS, an incubator project building global linkages through mission driven cultural enterprise.

• Sunday
  May 18, 2014
  2 PM
• The Stevenson Center on Democracy
  25200 N St Mary's Rd
  Mettawa (Libertyville), IL 60048
  847-816-7433
• Coffee and conversation following
• Cost $15

First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Heart of Community

The fictional town of Bedford Falls has the best village motto on the planet:

YOU ARE NOW IN BEDFORD FALLS

So when a Lake County town rebrands itself and adopts a new village motto, your LakeCountyEye wants to see how they compare.

The Village of Lake Zurich did not disappoint -- of which, the Sun-Times Media said ...

After 10 years with the same logo, the Village Board has approved a new seal, flag and slogan. The fresh design is part of the village's rebranding effort, aimed at further engaging the community and encouraging investment from businesses. Led by the village manager's office, the process took several months and included a number of graphic designers.
Municipal makeover: Lake Zurich freshens up logo, seal and flag

The new Lake Zurich village banner includes the date of incorporation, along with a graphic of the sun rising over the lake ...

Your LakeCountyEye observes that the sun is also rising under the cone of silence ...

Village of Lake Zurich Seal

Cone of Silence

Very hip.

The village also has a new slogan ...

At the Heart of Community

Your LakeCountyEye took the liberty to run the new slogan through the grammar checker. The grammar checker was not amused and recommended these, erm, grammatical alternatives ...

At the Heart of the Community

... or ...

At the Heart of Our Community

In all likelihood the village was being billed by the word and may have simply opted to save itself a few bucks.

The Fearsome Foursome

Not since the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants battled the X-Men has your LakeCountyEye seen this many super-villains in a single cartoon. The Tribune Creepy Cartoonist™ outdid himself this week, with four of his signature rogues for the price of one ...

Chicago Tribune

If operatives are unfamiliar with Creepy Tribune Cartoonist iconography, your LakeCountyEye is able to provide a skeleton key.

The gent in the foreground sipping a coffee appears to be Nikita Khrushchev ...

CORRUPTION

Khrushchev

Seated to his right is Mrs Khrushchev ...

UNEMPLOYMENT

Mrs Khrushchev

The quadruped on the left and hunched over the newspaper is a Rhinoceros ...

DEBT	White Rhinoceros

Conservation experts warn the rhinoceros will be extinct in the wild by 2020. The Creepy Tribune Cartoonist might be signalling that the DEBT will also disappear by 2020. Either that or rhinos are just easy to draw. Or Something.

One thing not easy to draw in a cartoon is CRIME. Whose image quickly telegraphs the idea CRIME to the average reader? Should the cartoonist draw a minority? Probably not a good idea. Then how about drawing a white guy instead? Haha, everyone knows that the white guys do not commit the crimes. The Tribune's Creepy Cartoonist deftly tackles the problem by splitting the difference and drawing a Cosby Kid ...

CRIME

Dumb Donald

The Brown Hornet was unavailable for comment.

Snow Job

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Whenever on a ski junket with other overcompensated industry lobbyists, your LakeCountyEye always looks forward to that all-expense-paid stay at the St. Regis Deer Valley in Park City, Utah:

Nestled on 12 slope-side acres with unobstructed views of the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains, the St. Regis Deer Valley is Utah's most exclusive address and the premier Park City venue for one-of-a-kind events. Long revered for world-class skiing, Deer Valley boasts a myriad of year-round activities, and its proximity to Salt Lake City International Airport makes for easy access for destination travelers. The modern mountain-lodge architecture of the St. Regis Deer Valley blends seamlessly with the surrounding landscape for an atmosphere that is at once comfortable and sophisticated. With 10,000 square feet of thoughtfully designed function space, your next event – whether intimate or grand – will be accommodated in refined style with the unparalleled service with which the St. Regis name is synonymous.
St. Regis Deer Valley
Park City, UT

But don't take it on your LakeCountyEye's word -- just see for yourself ...

The St. Regis Deer Valley

The accommodations are truly fit for a congressman king!

Here's an unsubstantiated testimonial from one repeat customer:

My congressional PAC -- the Republican Operation to Secure and Keep a Majority (ROSKAM PAC) -- has been sending people to St. Regis Deer Valley since 2011. What's the point of having a leadership PAC if you can't, every year, funnel a chunk of that money into a junket at some super-swank ski resort?

 Peter Roskam (IL-6)

For more information see this blog ...

Ski Moguls

You will not be disappointed!

Ski Moguls

While the old elephant's graveyard may be a myth made popular in the Tarzan movies, the elephant's ski junket is not. The big tuskers have long been known to congregate at a tony ski resort in Utah.

One documented sighting is of Jeb Hensarling, Republican chair of the powerful US House Financial Services Committee. Last year (according to ProPublica) Hensarling held a ...

fundraiser at the St. Regis Deer Valley, the "Ritz-Carlton of ski resorts" known for its "white-glove service" and for its restaurant by superstar chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. There's no evidence the fundraiser broke any campaign finance rules. But a ski getaway with Hensarling, whose committee oversees both Wall Street and its regulators, is an invaluable opportunity for industry lobbyists.
House Finance Chair Hensarling Goes on Ski Vacation with Wall Street

If the Hotel St. Regis in Deer Valley sounds familiar, that's because it is an expenditure filed with the FEC by Peter Roskam's leadership PAC -- and this blog noticed that ...

Q the Eye/05.01.14

Lake County Congressman Peter Roskam's PAC paid for airfare, lodging, meals, and more at the five-star ski resort in early March of this year.

And not just this year. Roskam's PAC expensed trips to the Hotel St. Regis in 2011 ...

Republican Operation to Secure and Keep a Majority (ROSKAM PAC) July 31 2011 Mid-Year Report

And in 2012 ...

Republican Operation to Secure and Keep a Majority (ROSKAM PAC) Apr 20 2012 Monthly Report

As well as 2013 ...

Republican Operation to Secure and Keep a Majority (ROSKAM PAC) 2013 30-Day POST-Election Special Report

And the aforementioned 2014 ...

Republican Operation to Secure and Keep a Majority (ROSKAM PAC) 2014 30-Day POST-Election Special Report

What sort of powerful attraction does this little, remote resort hold over these Republican heavyweights? Someone once asked Willie Sutton why he liked to ski there in Utah. "Because that's where the money is", was his answer.

Nuff said!

Q the Eye/05.01.14

Dear LakeCountyEye,

Could anything possibly be more tedious? A blog about politics in Lake County ... Really?

You know we really want, the hot dish on celebrity Congressman Peter Roskam!

TMZ Wannabee

Dear Perez Hilton,

Your wish is your LakeCountyEye's command -- who back in the day was known as the Walter Winchell of Winchester House.

NBC Chicago has been keeping tabs on the whereabouts of Lake County's gadabout rep in Washington DC:

According to Peter Roskam's leadership PAC -- filed with the FEC -- that tab includes ...

annual spring ski vacations to Park City, Utah, with stays at the Hotel St. Regis in Deer Valley; airfare for several people, and ski and snowmobile rentals - all paid for with ROSKAM PAC money. Roskam's office refused repeated requests by NBC5 Investigates to provide even basic details of these ski trips, including who went, and what the trips were for.
Inside Rep. Peter Roskam's Leadership PAC

As should be expected of the Chief Deputy Whip of the House of Representatives!

No photographs were available.

Oh pooh.

If you are an elected official, or a previously elected official, or just a private citizen under indictment, send your political questions to Q the Eye c/o ... LakeCountyEye@gMail.com