Jim Dey: Ghost of Illini's past prepared for 'boos'

Oct. 28—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:

Can you go home again?

For a long time, former University of Illinois basketball coach Bill Self answered that question in the negative.

Self spent three great years here before leaving for the same job at the University of Kansas. He has returned for a UI team reunion, a Coaches vs. Cancer fundraiser and the funeral of former assistant Wayne McClain. But, otherwise, he has made it a point to avoid Champaign-Urbana.

Self said his avoidance was an "emotional deal," no doubt the result of his conflicted feelings over leaving the UI to take one of the best jobs in college basketball. There's also the question of UI fan hostility over the departure of a much-loved coach who quickly become a much-disliked coach after he jilted the Fighting Illini.

Self, along with his No. 1-ranked team, will return Sunday to play an exhibition game against the Illini that is intended to raise money to assist victims of the August wildfires in Hawaii.

Self was quoted in the Lawrence, Kan., newspaper as predicting that "it's going to be a lot of fun for me personally to go to a place that, to be quite honest, I've avoided going to for so many years."

Self said he expects to be roundly booed when he and his team take the floor. But he has a plan for that.

One of his players is Hunter Dickinson, a Michigan transfer who drew considerable negative attention from the Orange Krush when he played here with the Wolverines.

Dickinson responded to their taunts by calling Illini fans "annoying." Self said he'll use Dickinson as a human shield.

"I'll make sure I walk in with him, and tell him (the boos) are all for him, and he won't know any different," Self said.

The Illinois/Kansas game will be televised on the Big Ten network starting at 6 p.m. Sunday.

No chance?

Each of Illinois' 17 congressional districts was drawn to produced predetermined results — the election of 14 Democrats and three Republicans.

That's what The Washington Post recently reported in a detailed story about how Gov. J.B. Pritzker and supermajority legislative Democrats drew federal and state legislative district maps.

The Post concluded that Democratic U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski's 13th District is the most gerrymandered in the nation.

But there's a similar gerrymandered district in Illinois' 17th, now represented by former television weather reporter and first-term incumbent Democrat Eric Sorensen of Rockford.

With a bulging campaign treasury and a politically skewed district, it's hard to imagine how Sorensen could possibly lose in 2024. Despite that, at least two Republicans say they'll seek their party's nomination to challenge Sorensen.

Scott Crowl of Milan, a farmer and former teachers union president, recently entered the race with an apocalyptic announcement.

"I am entering the political arena to try to save our country from economic disaster and social ruin," Crowl said.

Crowl joined a retired judge, Joe McGraw of Rockford, in a race for the GOP nomination that has drawn almost as many withdrawals as entries.

Republican businessman Ray Estrada of Galesburg recently abandoned his candidacy. Former Bloomington state Rep. Dan Brady publicly announced he was considering a run but decided not to do so.

The 17th district extends from Bloomington-Normal west through Peoria to the Quad Cities, then north to Rockford.

The dissenter

Members of Illinois' U.S. House delegation were almost unanimous this week in their support of a House resolution expressing support for Israel and condemnation of Hamas.

The full House voted 412 to 10 in favor of the resolution. The Illinois delegation voted 16-1 in favor, with Chicago U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez voting in opposition.

Ramirez, an anti-Israel leftist, is one of six members of the self-labeled "Squad" who voted no. Other Squad members who voted in opposition were Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., Summer Lee, D-Pa., and Cori Bush, D-Mo.

The two "Squad"other members — Reps. Greg Casar, D-Texas, and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass. — voted present.

The only Republican to vote no was U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

Ramirez said she "unequivocally" condemns Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israeli citizens, but urged Israel to support a cease-fire and allow humanitarian aid to Gaza.

So far, state legislators have said nothing formal about the Hamas attack, although there has been some speculation that they may.

Democratic Party leaders are reluctant to allow an official vote on a resolution because they want to avoid divisions among party members over Israel and Hamas.

However, several members — embracing a point of personal privilege — have spoken out on Israel's behalf.

National attention

As has become their practice, editorial writers at The Wall Street Journal have chided Illinois' elected officials again.

Due to Illinois' peculiar governance, The Journal has targeted Illinois on numerous issues, including corruption, labor policy and political spending.

This time, the Journal cited Pritzker's weak stance on extending the Invest in Kids scholarship program for lower middle-income and poor children.

"The Democratic Governor can save a scholarship program for low-income families. Will he?" the Journal asked.

"Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he wants his state to continue its Invest in Kids scholarship program, but only if he doesn't have to spend political capital to pass it. That's the message between the lines of his statement last week that he wouldn't block the program, which gives scholarships to more than 9,000 low-income students, if someone else in Springfield can make it happen," the Journal wrote.

The Journal said Pritzker needs to stand up for the program rather than "duck and cover" and "could start by asking Democrats in Springfield to renew the program."

The Journal noted that Pritzker and other Democratic leaders are supporters of private schools because they've sent or are sending their own children to them.

"Invest in Kids families may have lower incomes than the politicians, but they deserve the same opportunity," the Journal stated.

Tax dollars at work

It looks like Illinois may have a new scandal on its hands. At the least, it's an irregularity that deserves scrutiny.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports trouble at the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, where an employee reported working and being paid for as much as 350 hours a month.

The employee — Amy Gentry — was paid $240,761.30 between February and August. That's twice the salary of agency head Alicia Tate-Nadeau.

The state is defending Gentry's pay, saying her "hours logged with our agency are reflective of her work, which have spanned multiple disasters," said agency spin doctor Kevin Sur.

But Gentry's actions could prove more revealing than Sur's word. She resigned her lucrative post on Thursday.

At the same time, the state official who approved Gentry's pay was fired earlier this year along with three other staffers.

The Sun-Times reported that the personnel files of those dismissed include specific reasons, including "misconduct," "conduct unbecoming" and "poor performance."

Just to demonstrate Illinois' astute hiring standard, the state has decided two of those dismissed will not be rehired by the agency.

Gentry was working as the executive assistant to agency boss Tate-Nadaeau, who refused to speak with reporters.

From the outside, this looks like another financial boondoggle involving federal coronavirus money.

The Sun-Times reported "Gentry has recently been paid $156 an hour through a set of massive contracts earmarked for Illinois' COVID-19 response. Her total billings to IEMA in other contracting roles through August top $1.03 million."

"Timesheets show Gentry billed her time — as many as 350 hours a month — as 'director support, Springfield/Remote,' or 'Executive Assistant to the Director (Springfield/Remote),' though invoices to the state define her pay rate and position as 'Planner-IDPH' to 'assist Illinois Department of Public Health on planning efforts.'"

In light of the massive pay to Gentry, it's interesting to note that her replacement as the director's assistant is being paid a salary of $84,000.