Lester: Election commission good for Lake, not for DuPage?
A bill to merge the DuPage Election Commission with the DuPage County clerk's office is being crafted by Republican state Rep. Chris Nybo of Elmhurst and Democratic state Sen. Don Harmon of Oak Park.
Just four years ago, Harmon was the lead sponsor of a bill to do exactly the opposite in Lake County. His legislation creating a Lake County Election Commission was widely criticized by local officials and eventually overturned in court.
This time, Nybo says, DuPage County Chair Dan Cronin and the county board back the change. The bill passed the Senate unanimously last week and is now in the House.
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Look-alikes?
What's James Comey doing on the cover of a recent edition of the Daily Herald Business Ledger? That was one reaction to the photos on two newspapers displayed side by side on a day when just-fired FBI Director Comey dominated the news. The man on the Business Ledger cover actually is Zurich North America CEO Mike Foley, who does resemble Comey but seems to smile a lot more in his photos.
<h3 class="leadin">That's how many calories?
Putting suburban teacher pension costs on annual school reports is like putting calorie counts on menus - and might cause the same sticker shock.
That's the view of Democratic state Rep. Christian Mitchell, a Westchester native whose bill would require school districts to include the state's total contributions toward teacher pensions on school report cards, which come out each fall and include data on school performance, costs and other information.
Officials in the state Senate, which passed the bill, said no breakdowns on pension spending per school district or school is available and that's why the legislation is needed.
<h3 class="leadin">Words to the wise
Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Lee DeRemer, who served as a strategic planner for the U.S. Department of Defense at the Pentagon will address Benedictine University graduates Saturday at the Lisle university's 127th commencement convocation.
Harper College in Palatine, meanwhile, has secured former Obama administration Secretary of Education Arne Duncan for its May 20 commencement.
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No paper, no stamps
The Illinois Community College Board was among agencies begging and pleading with lawmakers in Springfield to give them a budget after a two-year impasse.
The organization, headed by former Northwest Suburban High School District 214 administrator Lazaro Lopez, has been operating with no budget at all, leaving it with "no means of acquiring supplies, of paying rent, or even buying postage," he said. Instead of face-to-face visits with college officials on campus, the board is "doing a lot of teleconferences ... when the telecommunications equipment works."
The board was responsible for choosing a replacement when College of DuPage Chairwoman Kathy Hamilton quit in late 2015.
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Celebrating Dizzy
Naperville resident Dave Scharf is the lead trumpeter in the Chicago Jazz Orchestra's upcoming "Definitely Dizzy" concert in honor of the Dizzy Gillespie Centennial at 7:30 p.m. May 20 at the newly renovated Studebaker Theater, 410 S. Michigan Ave. In addition to the orchestra, Scharf performs with the bands of Brad Williams and Eddie Harrison and on the TV show "Svengoolie."