Pulse: Former Rep. Halvorson pens political memoir
September 23, 2012 7:04PM
Debbie Halvorson
Updated: October 25, 2012 6:07AM
The village of Romeoville bought the Crazy Rock property at 135th Street and Route 53 last week. The village bought the shuttered dance club and an adjacent apartment building for $1.3 million in tax increment financing district funds.
Mayor John Noak told Pulse that the Romeoville Humane Society and the American Legion might find new homes at the site after renovations, but only if the buildings are salvageable.
Casino losses
Joliet budget makers are planning for another drop in casino taxes in 2012.
Finance Director Rachel Mayer told a city council committee last week that the arrival of video gambling and the possibility of slot machines at horse race tracks in other towns both influenced a 2013 projection of $20.1 million in revenue from gaming taxes. That would be down from the $20.9 million the city now estimates it will get for 2012, which also is down from the $21.5 million that was expected when this year’s budget was drawn up.
Halvorson book
Former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson has written a book titled “Playing Ball With the Big Boys.” The Crete Democrat said the book is a memoir of her time in politics. The book is subtitled “And Why the Big Girls Better Get in the Game.”
For information on the tome, visit playingballwiththebigboys.com.
Back to school
They say everyone needs to keep going to school these days. Here’s one example why that’s so.
Joliet Police Chief Mike Trafton told city council members this week that he’s been told by the company administering tests for 234 applicants for city police jobs that about one-fourth likely would fail the exams.
Joliet only is accepting applicants already certified to work as police officers. That means they’re probably working as police somewhere.
Voices raised
Protesters showed up to voice their displeasure Friday when Gov. Pat Quinn was in town to break ground for Joliet’s new multimodal transportation center.
The governor’s foes were on hand to demonstrate against pension changes and proposed closings, including Illinois Youth Center-Joliet.
“There are some people, frankly, who want to keep things ... the way they are,” Quinn said in a raised voice. “Sometimes we have to tell the people what they need to know. We have to reform our pension system.”
Cindy Wojdyla Cain, Bob Okon and Janet Lundquist contributed to Pulse.
