Jim Dey: Welch had little-known tie to the UI

Feb. 18—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:

Quelle femme

She could have been an Illinette. But fate intervened and took actress Raquel Welch on a different path to fame and fortune.

When the actress and onetime sex symbol died this week at 82, she was known all over the world.

But most men of a certain age knew Welch from her famous poster from the 1966 movie "One Million Years, B.C." She appeared as cavewoman "Loanna the Fair One" in a doeskin bikini.

But how many know of Welch's link to Illinois and the University of Illinois?

In her obituary, The Chicago Tribune reported that "Jo Raquel Tejada was the first of three children born (in Chicago) to Josephine Sarah Hall, an American of English ancestry, and Bolivian-born Armando Carlos Tejada.

The Tribune said "her parents met at the University of Illinois in the 1930s. Armando became an aeronautical engineer, while Josephine eventually worked as an executive assistant at Mattel."

They moved from Chicago to California when Raquel was just 2. She said the move was a "good thing because my baby brain was frozen solid until that point. That's probably why I've had an aversion to anything cold ever since, from icy drinks to frigid people."

Running man

Former Republican downstate state Sen. Paul Schimpf, who's run unsuccessfully in two statewide campaigns, hasn't abandoned politics, but he's certainly downsized the turf he's running on.

The onetime military lawyer who prosecuted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein recently announced that he's running for the Republican nomination for state's attorney of Monroe County.

It'll be fertile political ground for him to plow. Schimpf carried Monroe County in his bids for the state Senate, attorney general and governor.

Schimpf was one of a handful of candidates seeking the Republican Party's nomination for governor in 2022. Although endorsed by the Chicago Tribune, he was hampered by limited campaign funds and a low statewide profile.

Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey ultimately won the GOP nomination. But Bailey was crushed in the November general election by incumbent Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Monroe County, which has a population of about 34,000 and is bordered by the Mississippi River, is located near St. Louis.

There is no elected incumbent in the state's attorney's office because the elected state's attorney — Lucas Liefer — was recently named an associate judge.

Appointee Ryan Webb replaced Liefer. He, presumably, will face Schimpf in the March 2024 primary election.

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the law school at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Schimpf, now 51, served as a judge advocate in the U.S. Marines.

After retiring from the military, he returned to Illinois, running unsuccessfully for attorney general before being elected to a four-year state Senate term and stepping down after one term.

Baseball bios

It's hard to believe, but in his state budget address, Gov. J.B. Pritzker excoriated unnamed states — he meant Florida — for banning books on baseball Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron.

If true, it's less of an outrage and more of a demonstration of the shocking ignorance of some school administrators.

But it's an ill wind that doesn't blow some good. The governor's allegation provides an opportunity to recommend widely praised books on Clemente and Aaron.

The first is David Maraniss' outstanding "Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero." Not only is it a portrait of the Latin American superstar, it's a wonderful social history of the times in which he played.

Then there is Howard Bryant's "The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron." Baseball's onetime all-time home run hitter and 25-time all-star played briefly in the Negro League before joining the Milwaukee Braves after another great player, Jackie Robinson, broke the color line.

Who cares?

Candidates for mayor of Chicago are doing a lot of talking as the Feb. 28 primary election draws near. But who's listening?

If a recent report by WBEZ radio is any indication, not many.

WBEZ reports that nearly two-third of Chicago's 1.5 million registered voters "will skip the upcoming municipal election."

Based on an analysis of voter data at the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, WBEZ found that "fewer than four out of every 10 registered voters have cast ballots in all but one of the last five February municipal elections." The only race that exceeded the 40 percent number — 42 percent — was in 2011 following the decision of longtime Mayor Richard M. Daley to step down.

It's not just municipal elections that Chicagoans find uninspiring. WBEZ reported that "this past November Chicago witnessed its lowest voter turnout for a midterm election in the past 80 years."

Inmates behaving badly?

Isn't that hard to believe? Actually, no. Bad behavior is how they became inmates.

But circumstances apparently have gotten out of hand at the Thomson federal penitentiary, located in Carroll County in northwestern Illinois. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons said last week it will move 350 prisoners held in a special detention unit there to another prison.

News reports indicate that the inmates were moved to Thomson because they misbehaved in other facilities before they misbehaved at Thomson. The transferred inmates will not be allowed into general population in their new facilities, but instead held in "special housing units."

Prison officials will not close a nearby minimum security facility, and roughly 300 general population prisoners will remain at Thomson.

The unit being dissolved at Thomson has a bad reputation. Five inmates in it have been murdered and two others committed suicide since 2019.

The union representing guards said inmates regularly harass women who work there by engaging in "sexual misconduct." The decision to make the transfer, according to news reports, came after Justice Department officials conducted an inspection and concluded the warden was "not doing enough to safeguard employees, especially women, from lewd and abusive behavior of male inmates."

Thomson is described as a "high security" facility.

What's the real story?

That's what people are asking at Illinois State University, where President Terri Goss Kinzy resigned after serving less than two years.

Her decision was announced in a Wednesday afternoon email. Although her resignation will take effect on Tuesday, news reports indicate, she will receive an additional $144,000 in salary plus unused vacation time.

Kinzy also will be allowed to live in her university residence for up to four months.

Although circumstances indicate it was a bad marriage, there was no explanation given other than the ISU board and Kinzy saying they had "agreed to amicably end" her employment.

Statements like that generally mean each side hates the other's guts but have agreed for strategic reasons to keep their venomous thoughts to themselves.