Hey, did you hear the one about COD?

There was a time, I'm sure, when we wouldn't have dignified a rumor with a story.

But times have changed. Rumors, gossip and innuendo have the ability to spread with the speed of a Twitter. (That's the new-fangledest way to mass-send messages instantly, in case you hadn't heard.)

We'd been hearing from an array of bloggers, posters and anonymous e-mailers about the latest atrocities going on at College of DuPage. The stories went something like this: The new college president, Robert Breuder, is getting his new digs done up in a big-time way. Renovations to his office included a kitchen, shower and wine storage facility.

Given the preponderance and pervasiveness of these rumors, it seemed incumbent on us to check things out. And, frankly, if true, it seemed like a pretty interesting story. Reporter Jake Griffin poked around the edges for a bit, didn't get real far, then just walked through the literary front door by calling up Breuder and asking him to set the record straight about all the scuttlebutt of alleged over-the-top remodeling in the president's office.

According to Griffin's story in Thursday's paper, Breuder acknowledged the office, which hasn't been remodeled in 25 or 30 years, is undergoing a facelift. But, he said, no kitchen, no wine cellar, no shower. The work to the presidential suite is more "cosmetic," and includes the updating of a private bathroom and a small kitchenette that includes a sink, mini-fridge and a storage cabinet.

Asking the man occupying the office about what was going on there seemed the best way to perhaps put the rumors to rest - or at least clarify the situation.

However, Breuder, and no one else we immediately talked to, knew exactly how much this had cost, but board Chairman Mike McKinnon and Vice-Chairman Mark Nowak had signed off on the work, part of a $300 million capital improvement package.

But that isn't exactly putting the issue to rest. Board member Kathy Wessel said she wasn't aware of the project, and "hoped" the matter of cost would come up at the next board meeting. A Web commenter pounced on the story and questioned why money would be spent in such a fashion in tough economic times, ending with a plea to voters to throw McKinnon out of office in the April 7 election.

Ah, the election. No fewer than 15 people are running for three 6-year terms and one 2-year term on the COD board. But before you could say "Bob Schillerstrom's your uncle," no fewer than seven candidates had their petitions challenged. And get this: McKinnon, who's running for the 6-year term, sits on the electoral board that'll decide the fate of the people challenged for the 2-year term, while Nowak, running for the 2-year term, hears the objections to the candidates seeking the 6-year seat. Nothing illegal or improper about any of this, as election law calls for the president/chairman of a governing body to sit on a three-person electoral board to rule on those objections.

But it does get the tongues a-wagging and the conspiracy theorists a-writing, as evidenced by the influx of letters to this newspaper protesting the composition of the COD electoral board. And, interestingly, the challenged candidates have drawn the support and political muscle of the newly empowered DuPage Democratic Party and other left-leaning groups, such as anti-war activists, DuPage Against War Now.

That lends a new tinge of national party politics to a local election, and these things tend to be passionately nonpartisan. In fact, one of the meanest things you can say about another candidate in a village/school/library election is, "He's injecting big-city politics into a nonpartisan race."

So, it will be interesting to see how the ballot challenges play out, and whether the Democrat-supported candidates will topple the incumbents. And whether the rumors will continue to fly about, oh, you name it, at College of DuPage.

Stay tuned.

jdavis@dailyherald.com