A last look at 2009

The Newswatch blog is going on hiatus for the holidays.

That is, unless something really riles us up.

Until then, we present some of the items we talked about in the first year of this blog.  (Note:  Some of the links have gone dead in the months since they were first posted.  Sadly, this is beyond our control)

Thanks for reading.  We look forward to lots more newswatching in 2010!

2009 – Year in review

January

Oh, the excitement!  In January, the legislature finally did something for the people of Illinois by removing from office the worst governor in state history. The future looked so bright. Of course, Gov. Quinn’s first budget address was still months away…

March

At the IEA Representative Assembly, Pat Quinn made some friends (again, the budget address was still to come), but State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias had some explaining to do following the sit-down discussion of his actions on state pensions.

No one knew realized that the election of Barack Obama would result in a major change in the IEA staff.

President Obama’s education secretary selected the IEA Executive Director for a key post on the Department of Education.

April

A report from a Teabagger rally at the Statehouse.

May

In early May, thousands of IEA members came to Springfield to deliver a message to the governor and General Assembly. A few days later, we suddenly realized that we actually had a shot at stopping the pension proposals that had seemed inevitable just weeks earlier.

June

IEA members gave their best effort at the end of the spring session, but the failure of the Illinois House to vote on HB 174, the tax increase plan, dashed the hopes that had been raised when the Illinois Senate approved the measure.

July

We at IEA love sports metaphors.

That’s why we seized the opportunity presented by a rare baseball feat to point out that, if the members of the legislature cared about their work as much as a reserve outfielder for the White Sox cares about his, we’d all be better off.

August

Abbie Hoffman was once put on trial for wearing a shirt that looked like an American flag. I’m just saying.

September

Is it a tragedy for a child from a middle-class family to attend a public school? Really? Really?

October

Did you know that drowsiness is the enemy of a good labor contract?  This was the most viewed Newswatch item for 2009.

November

Every once in a while, it’s suggested that unions are no longer needed and that good teachers don’t need union protection.

What happened in Piasa proves that’s a myth.  This was the #2 most viewed Newswatch item of 2009.

December

Sometimes you can learn a lot about people based on their response to a simple question. For your enlightenment, see how two top Democratic candidates for Illinois governor answer a question about “teacher unions.“