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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2016
Group that beat re-districting receives funds from traditional Dems A popular ballot initiative to remove politicians from the political mapmaking process that was supported by hundreds of thousands of signatures and millions of dollars in donations was successfully shot down by group that reported $25,000 in funding sources this week. The group, called The People’s Map, reported donors consisting entirely of labor unions and law firms, a traditional support base for Illinois’ Democratic Party, led by House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago. Madigan criticized the Independent Maps ballot initiative, saying it violated the voting rights of minorities in the state. In Illinois, the law gives political map-drawing power to the General Assembly. Prior to Oct. 18, the group had reported no donations or expenditures with the Illinois State Board of Elections. State law requires any donations of more than $1,000 to be reported within five business days — two days if the deposit occurs within 30 days of an election. The group reported 20 donations of $1,000 and $2,000 increments. “This group has always been a mystery,” Independent Maps spokesman Jim Bray said. “They don’t have a website. They don’t have a phone number that works. Until recently, they haven’t disclosed their contributors.” Bray said the disclosure indicates who really benefits from the status quo. “These are the people and the organizations that don’t want to see change and want things Addison Trick or Treat hours Oct. 31 from 3-7 p.m. Within three blocks of your home Villa Park Trick or Treat hours Oct. 31 from 3-7 p.m.
to stay just the way they are,” Bray said. The Support Independent Maps political action committee had gathered more than a half a million signatures and raised millions of dollars in an effort to give redistricting power to an independent 11-member panel aimed at maximizing public input. While it was supported by members of both parties, the Independent Maps received funds from donors allied with Gov. Bruce Rauner, who advocated for the amendment. People’s Map criticized Independent Maps in an August letter calling the measure “a political ploy to hurt middle-class families and minorities in Illinois,” and saying the measure would help Rauner and his “extreme agenda.” Independent Maps still enjoys popular support today. A poll by Southern Illinois University’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute showed 72 percent of voters polled supported the ballot initiative. Trial lawyer Michael Kasper, the go-to election lawyer for Madigan and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, challenged the ballot initiative in court. Instead of arguing that the proposed Constitutional amendment violated the voting rights of Illinois’ minorities, Kasper argued that the proposal improperly gave power to the state’s auditor general, something he argued ballot initiatives cannot do. Along political lines, the Illinois Supreme Court voted against the measure in August, saying it went beyond
See DEMS, Page 3 Elmhurst Trick or Treat hours Oct. 31 from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. Lombard Trick or Treating Oct. 31 until 7 p.m. Bensenville Trick or Treat hours Oct. 31 from 3-8 p.m. PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID ROCK VALLEY PUBLISHING LLC
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District 2 student sleuths solve crime with science
Eighth grade science teacher Maureen O’Rourke helps students as they begin to graph the data they collected during a CSI-style lab. The lab helped students hone their engineering and design skills. All of these skills are part of the NextGen science standards, which Illinois adopted in 2014. “He had some guts.” That’s how one 8th grade student described Charlie, the victim of a fictional robbery, who wounded a would-be robber with a lamp—prompting students in Blackhawk Middle School’s 8th grade science classes to analyze the “blood splatters” he left behind. Students used dyed water and eyedroppers to simulate blood splatters, dropping the water from different heights to see how it affected the shape and size of the splatter. Once the data was collected, students were shown evidence from the scene of the crime and compared those splatters to their own data to determine where on his body the robber was wounded and solve the crime.
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