Jim Dey: Maybe this is the kind of political scandal Illinois needs

Sep. 16—It's time once again to dive in to another round of quick takes on the people, places and events that were being talked about over the past week:

A reel scandalGovernment in Illinois is notoriously corrupt, but in a ho-hum sort of way.

There are payoffs, ghost payrolls, pension scams and official misconduct. Borrrrriiiinnnnngggggg.

Just this week came the story of the former police chief of the southwestern Chicago suburb of McCook pleading guilty to conspiring with a former mayor to extort local businessmen.

Just for a change of pace, Illinois needs a political scandal like the one playing out in Virginia.

According to news accounts, a candidate for the Virginia legislature livestreamed videos of herself and her husband having sex on a pornographic website. Among many other things she solicited from viewers were cash payments she promised would go toward a "good cause."

Running for public office can be expensive. But the fundraising effort promulgated by Susanna Gibson opens a whole new vista for money-hungry pols.

The Democrat is unhappy that her videos have been disclosed to voters, calling it "the worst gutter politics."

Taking her case to the court of public opinion, she promised it "won't intimidate and won't silence me." She further chastised her "political opponents and their Republican allies" on the grounds that "there's no line they won't cross to silence women when they speak up."

While Gibson has had plenty to say about the disclosure of the videos, her GOP opponent has been notably circumspect in responding to reporters' inquiries.

Why the silence? Gibson's opponent is probably following the age-old political admonition warning candidates to never interrupt their opponent when they are posting their sex videos online.

Ron vs. J.B. (Round 5)The governors of Illinois (J.B. Pritzker) and Florida (Ron DeSantis) don't like each other very much. They also find it politically profitable to take public swings at each other.

The latest round in this whatever-you-can-do-I-can-do-better melee comes from DeSantis.

He's tweaking Pritzker's nose by running billboards in Chicago inviting law officers from Illinois to move to the Sunshine State.

Political Playbook is among those news outlets reporting that "Florida has taken out three billboard ads in Chicago offering $5,000 signing bonuses to police officers who move to Florida."

"I look forward to welcoming the Illinois men and women in blue to the law-and-order state," DeSantis said.

Florida is in the midst of a nationwide recruitment campaign for law officers. Playbook reports that it's drawn 2,700 overall, but just 37 from Illinois.

"Citizenship matters. Law enforcement matters. Make the Smart Move to Florida," the billboards state.

Needless to say, Pritzker was not impressed, describing the billboards as a "lame attempt to get headlines."

Of course it is. But if jabbing Pritzker also draws public attention, it may help Florida attract the police officers it seeks to hire.

That's called killing two birds with one stone.

Now it's Pritzker's move.

Hard timesIllinois is one of the leading states for housing foreclosure, and Peoria has one of the highest foreclosure rates of any city in the country.

That's according to ATTOM Data Solutions, which reports that foreclosure figures are on the rise across the country.

Joining Illinois on the list of "highest number of foreclosure filings" were New Jersey and Maryland, while the states with the "largest increases in foreclosures were Maryland, Alaska and Oregon.

ATTOM reports that in the first six months of 2023, "default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions" increased by 13 percent compared with the first six months of 2022 and by 185 percent compared with the first six months of 2021.

In Peoria, there was "about one foreclosure for every 405 homes." That ranked No. 12 in the country.

The top five cities in foreclosure rates are Cleveland/Elyria, Ohio; Atlantic City/Hammonton, N.J.; Fayetteville, N.C.; Columbia, S.C.; and Lakeland/Winter Haven, Fla.

The Chicago/Naperville/Elgin area came in No. 6, while the Quad Cities area ranked No. 21.

Illinois had three of the top 30 areas for foreclosures.

Back in the newsActor Jussie Smollett returned to center stage last week, attending appellate court arguments concerning the alleged scam he pulled on the city of Chicago and the nation.

Readers may recall that Smollett, a network television actor, was convicted of orchestrating a claim that he was attacked by racist, homophobic Trump supporters in Chicago but fought the fiends off.

Instead, evidence revealed that Smollett had hired two acquaintances to pull off the staged assault. Both faux attackers testified for the state.

The alleged attack drew nationwide news coverage and initial sympathy for Smollett. But he was forced to surrender his prized victimhood status after an investigation revealed he made the whole thing up.

Initially, Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx wanted to give Smollett a pass. But after protests, a special prosecutor — Dan Webb — was appointed, and he obtained guilty verdicts from a jury against Smollett for felony disorderly conduct.

Smollett was sentenced to probation that included 150 days in the county jail, a $25,000 fine and $120,106 in restitution to the city for the costs of conducting an intense investigation.

Smollett attended the oral arguments, where he heard his lawyers tell the justices that Smollett was again a victim, this time both of racism and public resentment over his phony attack claims.

"Public outrage against the defendant cannot overrule the rule of law," Nenye Uche, Smollett's lawyer, told the court.

The prosecutor argued that Smollett was caught and properly convicted, that his convictions should be upheld and the sentence carried out.

Given the evidence and the law, Smollett's lawyer is fighting an uphill battle.

Naming rightsThe Morris High School Redskins apparently will keep that name for a while longer.

Despite threats from the federal Office for Civil Rights, school board members are sticking with their planned deadline of phasing out their school symbol by 2025.

According to news reports, district Superintendent Craig Ortiz said it is impractical to remove all references to the name from football, baseball and basketball uniforms without more time.

"To turn it around by December is not feasible," Ortiz said.

The school board is also wrestling with the question of what the team's new name should be.

Ever-sensitive employees of the federal office have also ordered the high school's gym floor be expunged of any references to the name.

Another question is what to do about the school's booster club and its use of the name, including for fundraising. As a private entity, it could be exempt from federal reach.

The latest focus on Morris, a community of about 15,000 about 60 miles southwest of Chicago, is just one of many efforts to force removal of references to Native Americans in team names or imagery.