Don't Bet on It

Today's Question of the Day is a story problem:

Q: The 2024 Presidential horse race has left the gate, and Ron DeSantis already came in dead last. Would DeSantis have done better in that horse race if he had four legs?

A: If Ron DeSantis had four legs, he'd be working for Disney.

HaHa, Lake County Moneybags Richard Uihlein bet a million dollars on Ron DeSantis. And lost:

A billionaire couple from Lake Forest who are among the nation's top Republican donors gave more than $1 million to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' failed bid for the presidency in the final three months of 2023, federal records show.
Uihleins spent more than $1 million on DeSantis’ presidential campaign in fall — will they now back Trump

This would not mark the first time that Richard Uihlein dropped a bundle on an also-ran. In 2022, he gave $3,500,000 to Darren Bailey's failed gubernatorial campaign. And Uihlein, that same year, pumped $1,000,000 into an effort to stop a Constitutional Amendment -- the Illinois Right to Collective Bargaining. That ballot referendum sailed to victory by 17 points.

In related news, the Lake County GOP issued an urgent plea: "Please consider making a donation here in Lake County. We will have plenty of loser candidates on the primary ballot in March."

Saturday Night Special Cartoons

The McHenry County man who shot himself in the foot was outdrawn last week. By the Creepy Tribune Cartoonist:

Will there be more mash-ups for the Chicago Tribune Creepy Cartoonist™ and the McHenry County Man Who Shot Himself in the Foot™ any time soon? Not likely. One McHenry County MAGA man told your LakeCountyEye: "They bus in their pen-men from Chicago to make renditions of our Second Amendment patriots. And they bring with them their diseases and their crime into McHenry County. We need to build that paywall now."

Ash from a Hole in the Ground

Question of the day:

Q: How rich is rich?

A: Rich is when you donate your Tesla to Kars4Kids because the ashtray is full.

HaHa, the City of Waukegan's ashtray is full. With coal ash:

As Midwest Generation seeks modification of its handling of coal ash at its decommissioned Waukegan power plant from the Illinois Pollution Control Board, it is reconsidering its earlier proposal to cap one coal ash pond and remove the other. Local officials, including Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor, have pushed Midwest to remove both ponds. State Sen. Adriane Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove, and state Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Gurnee, introduced legislation in the Illinois General Assembly requiring removal.
Coal ash ponds the subject of Pollution Control Board hearing; 'Waukegan residents deserve better'

You can add toxic coal ash to the list of expensive environmental messes in the upper right corner of Lake County. Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor said ...

the company has refused to cooperate with the city removing the pollution its coal furnaces have spewed for nearly a century. Waukegan already has five Superfund sites from other polluters in its industrial past, much of it along the lakefront. "The residents of Waukegan cannot bear the financial cost of yet another environmental catastrophe caused by a private company," Taylor said "This company is failing to address its environmental mess adequately. Waukegan residents deserve better."
Coal ash ponds the subject of Pollution Control Board hearing; 'Waukegan residents deserve better'

The Waukegan Airport quickly released a statement: "No, the Waukegan International Airport will absolutely not be annexing the coal ash for its runway expansion. Whatever gave you that idea?"

School of Hard Knocks

How about a quick run of fantasy football before the Super Bowl?

This is the line up: Your quarterback is the Antioch Village Trustee who wants to direct school policy even though she does not sit on the school board:

Trustee Petrina Burman began objecting last year to certain materials dealing with gender identity being made available to students in Antioch School District 34. That sparked an investigation by an outside agency. The citizens group and Burman have since taken to social media to express their viewpoints.
Antioch officials want to focus on plans rather than gender-identity debate; ‘This is … a distraction from getting these projects completed’

Suddenly there is a wide opening far downfield:

Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95 is accepting applications from candidates to fill a school board vacancy.
Lake Zurich Dist. 95 seeking applicants for school board vacancy

Is this an opportunity to pick up a seat on a school board?  Not so fast --  applicants must reside in the school district. This means that Antioch Village Trustees are ineligible and would need to find other means to exert their influence. Perhaps by waging a social media campaign against that school district.

Hike!

People Unclear on the Contempt

Did you hear the one about the candidate who filed a nominating petition for school board? However, she failed to check her paperwork. And was elected village trustee instead. HaHa, true story.

One Antioch Village Trustee was so unhappy with her school district that she took to social media in a big way:

Trustee Petrina Burman began objecting last year to certain materials dealing with gender identity being made available to students in Antioch School District 34. That sparked an investigation by an outside agency. The citizens group and Burman have since taken to social media to express their viewpoints.
Antioch officials want to focus on plans rather than gender-identity debate; ‘This is … a distraction from getting these projects completed’

Things became embarrassing to a degree that the Village Board censured their Trustee:

Antioch trustees have reprimanded one of their own, saying it's time to move on from social media distractions and focus on village business.
Antioch village trustee censured for ‘disruptive’ conduct

Note to Ops: You can exert more influence over school district policy by sitting on that school board. And not your village board.

Just sayin!