Quinn looks back, hints at future

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IOWA & ILLINOIS
20 years
later,
Iowa
fugitive
jailed
Iowa & Illinois
digest
Officials look into
death of Iowa boy
diagnosed with flu
Associated Press
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Legislation is being considered
establishing a 2016 special
election to replace late Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar
Topinka.
The bill was filed Tuesday.
It’s expected to be considered
during today’s special session.
The session was called by
outgoing Gov. Pat Quinn, who
said he wants voters to help
choose Topinka’s replacement.
GOP Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner
is able to name a four-year
replacement by law. Rauner on
Monday named Lincolnshire
businesswoman Leslie Munger
to fill the vacancy.
Senate President John Cullerton agrees with Quinn
and supports a special election. However, House Speaker
Michael Madigan’s spokesman
said Tuesday the speaker will
“have to see the legislation and
go from there.”
Madigan has said the matter
was for the state’s executive
branch.
Inmate dies of
natural causes
CORALVILLE — Officials
said an Iowa inmate has died
of natural causes from lung
cancer.
The state Department of Corrections said 65-year-old Leroy
William Basham died Saturday.
He was at the hospice unit of
the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville.
Basham was serving a life
sentence for first-degree murder. He began his sentence in
December 1987.
Men face fish and
game violations
DES MOINES — Three men
face a total of more than 150
charges in connection with fish
and game violations in Greene
County.
The state Department of Natural Resources said 20-year-old
Hossein Kolbehrdari of Ankeny,
21-year-old Maxwell McGlothlen
of Ankeny and 22-year-old Rheise Presnall of Polk City face a
variety of charges.
Kolbehrdari’s charges include
unlawful possession of game
birds or animals. McGlothlen’s
charges include not having a
hunting license and possessing a
rifle while deer hunting. Presnall
is accused of illegal possession
of a whitetail deer, among other
charges.
Officials in November conducted a search of a rental home
where the men were staying.
Each faces different fines. Court
records do not list attorneys.
Harkin’s papers
arrive at Drake
DES MOINES — About 800
boxes filled with papers collected by now-retired U.S. Sen.
Tom Harkin during his days in
Congress are now at Drake University, where they will be made
available to the public.
The university is storing the
Harkin papers in its archives on
its library’s second floor. The documents include legislative bills,
reports and constituent letters.
The Democrat left the Senate
this month after several decades
in office. Republican Joni Ernst
now holds the seat.
Officials said organizing,
cataloging and digitizing Harkin’s papers will take several
months.
By RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press
Ron Johnson/Associated Press
The skyline of the city of Peoria, Ill., is viewed Tuesday through the glass atrium of the Peoria Civic Center, as melting snow
became icicles after the first significant winter snowfall Monday evening.
Dog days of winter
Jessica Reilly/Associated Press
Rick West/Associated Press
Edgar Villa uses a snowblower to clear his sidewalk Tuesday
in the South Elgin, Ill., suburb of Chicago. Below-zero temperatures are expected to follow today.
Arnold King shovels his walkway while his dog, Max, plays
Tuesday in Dubuque. A winter storm system moved through
the Midwest, which brought snow and cold temperatures to
parts of Nebraska and Iowa.
Quinn looks back, hints at future
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By SOPHIA TAREEN
Associated Press
CHICAGO — Gov. Pat Quinn is
characterizing his tenure as one
of fairness — trying to create jobs
by inking a capital construction
plan, legalizing same-sex marriage and ending Illinois’ death
penalty — and hinted Tuesday
he’ll stay focused on that principle by returning to his activist
roots after leaving office.
With just days until Republican
Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner takes
over Illinois, the Chicago Democrat offered a snapshot of how he
would like to frame his legacy during an emotional goodbye speech
to the City Club of Chicago.
Focusing on achievements,
like doubling the earned income
tax credit and the state’s falling unemployment rate, Quinn
painted a self-portrait of a leader
tasked with hard choices at a difficult time in Illinois history. Unaddressed were parts of his record
political experts see as a mixed
bag, such as his struggle to connect with lawmakers and leaving behind voluminous financial
problems.
Quinn — tapped as lieutenant
governor to run the state after
two predecessors as governor
were engulfed in scandal — didn’t
stick to a chronology during his
address. He oscillated between
his political philosophy to benefit
“the common good,” his past as an
organizer, his signing of landmark
legislation, his task of considering
clemency petitions and the future.
“It’s important that we always be
progressive and be willing to make
tough decisions on fundamental
reforms that may not be popular at
the time but stand the test of time,”
he told an audience that included
civic leaders and administration
members. “I’m always looking for
causes like that.”
He previewed his future plans
for the first time since losing Nov.
4, saying he’d like to pursue issues
like veterans rights and organize
petition drives.
It was a glimpse of vintage
Quinn, who became a political
organizer in the 1970s. He advocated term limits and helped push
through a constitutional amendment cutting the number of lawmakers in the legislature before
he was elected treasurer and
lieutenant governor. He took over
as governor in 2009, after now-
Ashlee Rezin/Associated Press
Gov. Pat Quinn talks about his tenure as governor of Illinois during a speech Tuesday to the City
Club of Chicago.
imprisoned ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich was indicted on corruption
charges.
“Illinois was a laughingstock,”
Quinn said, describing a “crisis of
corruption,” the recession and fiscal problems. “I inherited all that.”
Few disagree with Quinn’s
characterization of that time, and
experts credit some of his initial
moves with helping change the
state’s reputation, including signing campaign finance regulations, legislation abolishing the
death penalty and a $31 billion
capital plan.
“He may not rank among the
absolute top governors of Illinois,”
said John Jackson at Southern
Illinois University’s Paul Simon
Public Policy Institute. “But he
was not a failure across the board
and had some successes that are
certainly worth noting and being
remembered for.”
Still, Quinn wasn’t able to fully
capitalize on relationships with
lawmakers or always successfully
negotiate with legislative leaders.
He especially irritated lawmakers
by withholding their paychecks
during the pension crisis.
“He picked fights that were
unnecessary, and that hurt him
with the General Assembly and
his effectiveness,” said Kent Redfield, a professor emeritus at the
University of Illinois at Springfield. “Quinn just falls short in
terms of really having made a
mark on the governor’s office.
There’s a lot of unfinished business there.”
It includes a lingering backlog
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of billions in unpaid bills, a massive revenue drop from the expiring income tax increase Quinn
couldn’t get lawmakers to make
permanent and an uncertain outcome of the pension overhaul, a
law Quinn signed but is undergoing legal challenges.
Quinn’s public reputation as a
reformer also took a hit last year
when a federal lawsuit challenged
hiring at his Department of Transportation and a 2010 anti-violence
program he championed came
under investigation. Quinn has
maintained he fixed problems
when they arose.
He didn’t address those difficulties Tuesday. Instead, he
told personal stories, choking up
while reading a note describing
his late father’s military service.
IOWA CITY — More than 20
years after fleeing from justice,
a former Deadhead convicted in
an alleged drug
conspiracy
unexpectedly
turned himself
in, authorities
said Tuesday.
Matthew
Samuel West,
49, showed up
Dec. 27 in the
lobby of the West
Linn County
Jail in Cedar Rapids to surrender. West was convicted in
1992 of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent
to distribute LSD and had been
wanted since missing a 1994
federal court hearing. He’s
being jailed after a federal judge
ordered him detained pending
further proceedings.
Lt. Kent Steenblock, the assistant jail administrator, said it’s
“very rare” for a longtime fugitive to give up seemingly out of
the blue.
The FBI said West fled Iowa
in 1994 but what he did during the past 20 years remains
unclear. His wife divorced him
in absentia in 1999, Iowa court
records show. At least three
of his alleged co-conspirators
completed sentences of prison
and supervised release, the last
being discharged in 2005.
West’s attorney didn’t return
a message seeking comment.
When the FBI added West to
its list of wanted fugitives, the
agency noted he once owned
and operated a Cedar Rapids
tie-dye shop, played in a local
band and coached the drum
line. The FBI described West
as artistic, saying he designed
shirts he sold at Grateful Dead
concerts he “usually attended
during the 1980s and into the
1990s.”
A jury had convicted then
27-year-old West in December
1992 of the drug conspiracy
charge. He faced a mandatory sentence of 10 years in
prison because the conspiracy
involved more than 10 grams
but was free on bond during his
appeal.
In 1993, federal prosecutors
obtained an indictment with
additional drug and money laundering charges against West.
West was part of an alleged
conspiracy to distribute LSD
from 1990 to 1992, sending wire
transfers totaling $3,125 from
Cedar Rapids to a co-conspirator at locations in Oregon and
Texas, the indictment alleges.
According to the FBI, West
fled Iowa before a hearing on
whether his pretrial release
should be revoked.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Jon
Scoles ruled last week West
would remain jailed pending his
sentencing, which hasn’t been
scheduled. Scoles also set a Feb.
9 trial on the second indictment.
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Bill filed to establish
comptroller election
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413312
DES MOINES — Public
health officials are investigating the death of a 7-year-old
Iowa boy who was diagnosed
with influenza.
The Iowa Department of Public Health said it’s investigating
three pediatric deaths they
believe resulted from flu-related
complications.
The family of 7-year-old
Travon Epps said the boy was
taken to Blank Children’s Hospital on New Year’s Day. He was
diagnosed with the flu and later
died.
Officials said cases of the flu
are spreading throughout Iowa.
There have been confirmed
cases in every region of the
state.

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