Republican presidential candidates (L-R) former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA), former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) participate in a debate sponsored by CNN. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Some of you older listeners may remember the term “Mugwump”.

Originally it referred to Republicans who in 1884 supported Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland. They rejected their party’s candidate who was associated with financial corruption. Their idealism led them to oppose political corruption.

They were portrayed as fence sitters with their mug on one side of the fence and their wump on the other. Wump was a comic mispronunciation of the word rump. This word came to me recently as I read about the lower turnout at the Republican primaries.

An Obama pollster said that Republicans were voting with their feet by staying away from the primaries. Or, maybe there are some mugwumps out there, fence sitters.

I wonder if there aren’t mugwumps from both parties: who are tired of self serving politicians in our state and nation; who are revolted by negative campaigns; who can’t understand why candidates pander to the extremists in their parties.

Or, maybe they aren’t Mugwumps. Maybe they’re sitting on the fence with their mugs and wumps in line with the rail. Maybe they’re independent thinkers who just can’t believe what’s going on or, are just sick of the conspiracy of incompetence in our state and nation.

It’s been said that the extended primary season is about making candidates into better candidates. It’s not to make them better problem solvers, nor wiser leaders. It’s about making their campaigns function more efficiently.

So if you’re out there sitting on that rail lengthwise, be careful. It might hurt for awhile. But don’t fall off.  On another note, I suggest you listen to all of the Forum contributors on this station or read their contributions on the website.

We’re really fortunate to have bright and concerned people like them in our community. I read them all finding them very well done.  And if someone out there starts a Mugwump party, please let me know.

Good luck young’uns.

This is Jim Snow with WJBC’s Forum.

Listen to the Forum below:

Jim Snow is retired from State Farm Insurance where he was a consultant. Jim and his wife Karen live in Normal.

The opinions expressed within WJBC’s Forum are solely those of the Forum’s author, and are not necessarily those of WJBC or Townsquare Media.

A 60-page report was produced in New Jersey serving as a guide to Newark's Muslims. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

NEWARK – A former New Jersey police chief is refusing to comment on his decision to allow the New York Police Department to monitor and catalog his city’s Muslim neighborhoods.

Garry McCarthy was the Newark police chief in 2007, when the plainclothes NYPD officers fanned out across his city, taking pictures of mosques and eavesdropping on conversations in businesses frequented by Muslims.

The result was a 60-page report, obtained by The Associated Press, that was a guide to Newark’s Muslims. It never mentioned terrorism or criminal allegations.

Newark’s mayor, Cory Booker, says he never approved the spying and promised to investigate.

McCarthy is now working as Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s police superintendent. Reached on his cell phone Wednesday, McCarthy said there was nothing to comment on and abruptly hung up.

Village President Bill Wilkey said he was devastated by the news and will fight the proposed prison closure. (Photo used under Creative Commons from Flickr user TourismGuy)

DWIGHT – Officials in Dwight are trying to find out why Gov. Pat Quinn is proposing the closure of the Dwight Correctional Center.

The maximum security prison housing female inmates has a current population of just over 1,000. Village President Bill Wilkey said, though, he hears from guards at the prison that it’s overcrowded as is.

“I don’t know what the governor is thinking,” Wilkey said. “Is he trying to use this as some sort of leverage to try and get something else?”

Wilkey runs a barbershop in town, where some of the guards do business. He said he’ll do whatever he can to fight the prison closure.

Under the proposal, inmates from the Dwight center would go to the Lincoln Correctional Center, another female prison. But, the maximum capacity at that prison is 1,018, and there are currently 1,011 inmates there, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections website. The Lincoln facility also houses men, and the proposal includes moving those men to the Logan Correctional Center.

“The other thing that I do not understand is, before Quinn was trying to take everything away from Logan County, he was going to close this he was going to close that,” Wilkey said. “At once he does a flip flop and now he’s moving everything down there, so is someone lining his pockets, or what?”

Wilkey said he’ll do whatever he can to fight the prison closure. He said officials will also be talking to Grundy County about the employees who commute to Dwight.

Stephanie Pawlowski can be reached at Stephanie@wjbc.com.

Police are searching for suspects in a Feb. 20 alleged shoplifting and assault at Eastland Mall. (WJBC file photo)

BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington Police say they have a lead on a suspect in a shoplifting incident in which an Eastland Mall employee was attacked for trying to stop them.

Police spokesman Dave White says a man fled Journeys on Monday evening after stealing a pair of shoes. White says a store employee was tripped by a woman while trying to chase the suspect. The worker was then beaten by several other men in the mall.

The victim was treated and released from OSF St. Joseph Medical Center.

White says the alleged shoplifter in a high-school aged black male. He says police are trying to track down store security footage for more clues into what happened.

Eric Stock can be reached at eric@wjbc.com.

(WJBC file photo)

BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington Police say they are seeking security footage of a late night convenience store robbery in hopes of determining the suspect.

Police spokesman Dave White says a man who implied he had a gun robbed the Casey’s General Store at Lincoln Street and Morrissey Drive at about 10:15 p.m. Tuesday.

White says the suspect is described as a black male, wearing red workout pants and a gray coat that had what looked like a white ID badge on it. A witness says he fled on foot to the north after taking an undetermined amount of cash.

No one was injured.

Eric Stock can be reached at eric@wjbc.com.

(Current represents the 11th Congressional District)

Age: 33

Residence: Channahon

Experience: While a sophomore at ISU, I challenged a 12-year Democrat incumbent for the McLean County Board. I shared my vision to restore local government back into the hands of the people and won a seat on the board. I became one of the youngest county board members in McLean County history. In 2003, I joined the United States Air Force. I was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in November 2003 and later awarded his pilot wings. I have served in the Air Force Special Operations, Air Combat Command, Air Mobility Command, and Air National Guard. I continue to serve in the Air National Guard, while in Congress, with the current rank of Captain.

Education: Bachelor’s Degree from Illinois State University

Family: I’m engaged to my girlfriend, Riki. My mother, Jodi, is an elementary schoolteacher, and my father, Rus, is a former CEO of two faith-based organizations. They instilled in me the important values of hard work and responsiveness to the needs of less fortunate individuals in our communities.

Website/Social Media: ElectAdam.com

Facebook.com/ElectAdam

Twitter.com/ElectAdam

Click here to read Adam Kinzinger’s questionnaire

Don Manzullo (R)

(Currently represents the 16th Congressional District)

Age: 67

Residence: Egan (Ogle County)

Experience: Attorney, small business owner, beef cattle producer, legislator

Education: BA Political Science, American University; JD Marquette University

Family: Wife Freda, and three children

Website/Social Media: manzullo.org

Click here to read Don Manzullo’s questionnaire

Rep. Dan Brady says the governor's budget proposal is "unacceptable." (Photo courtesy of the Illinois House Republicans)

Hours before Gov. Quinn presents his budget proposal, Republicans are already working to defeat it.

State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, says despite Quinn’s plans to close 14 state facilities, include prisons in Dwight and Tamms, the $33.8 billion budget actually increases spending.

“That’s a billion dollars more in spending and that’s just simply unacceptable,” Brady said.

Brady says he won’t support any new spending, especially when Illinois is already $8 billion behind in paying its bills.

Brady also suggests that Quinn is misleading the public when he says the budget has been scaled back to 2008 levels. Brady says the budget was larger then that it is this year.

Brady recommended more across the board cuts and a shift to managed care Medicaid plan and reforming pensions as two ways to get the budget in line, but he adds that the problem can’t be fixed in just one or two years.

“That’s going to have to be the course for no matter who is the governor in the future,” Brady said.

Click here to listen to Beth Whisman’s interview with Brady.

Eric Stock can be reached at eric@wjbc.com.

ADM hopes to save $100 million with the cutbacks. (Photo used under Creative Commons from Flickr user Frank Campbell)

DECATUR – Archer Daniels Midland Co. now says its restructuring plan will eliminate 1,200 jobs around the agribusiness company.

The Decatur-based company said earlier this year that it planned to cut 1,000 mostly salaried jobs through layoffs and buyouts.

ADM said yesterday that it has laid off 175 employees in Decatur. The cuts follow another 160 employees in Decatur accepting ADM’s voluntary early retirement offer.

ADM spokesman David Weintraub declines to say where other cuts are happening. But he says U.S. layoffs should be finished this week while those elsewhere will take more time.

Weintraub says ADM will help employees losing their jobs work on their resumes and search for new positions. They’ll also receive severance packages.

The eliminated positions represent less than 4 percent of ADM’s employees in Decatur.

The two anti-abortion bills passed out of committee and head to the House floor for a vote. (Illinois Statehouse News)

SPRINGFIELD – An Illinois House committee has approved tougher regulations for centers that perform abortions and a requirement that women view an ultrasound or refuse in writing before getting an abortion.

The bills passed overwhelmingly in the Agriculture Committee and now go to the House floor.

The House Agriculture Committee is gaining a reputation for passing conservative legislation that seemingly has no connection to corn or hogs.

State Rep. Thomas Morrison (R-Palatine) said passing conservative legislation in Illinois is a challenge, and bringing the bill to a committee with like-minded lawmakers makes it easier to get his voice heard. He said the discussion should be more civil when it’s just amongst lawmakers.

“As lawmakers, there’s 118 of us, we have to handle a whole variety of subjects. And so I’m happy that it’s going to have its day on the House floor for discussion,” Morrison said.

Opponents objected to sending the measures to a committee that typically deals with livestock and hunting issues. Some wore “Women are not livestock” t-shirts.

Planned Parenthood and the ACLU say the bills are simply further attempts to undermine Roe vs. Wade.

State Rep. Deborah Mell (D-Chicago) said there are more important issues to worry about, such as the fiscal crisis.

“It is a little insulting to be sitting here,” Mell said. “Because we have other health care committees and everything, that’s why. And we’re not talking about abortions for cows and pigs? We’re talking about women? Is that true? OK.”

Supporters of the bills say clinics should be regulated more strictly to protect women’s health. They also say viewing an ultrasound picture of a fetus would help women make informed decisions.

The Illinois Department of Public Health opposed the additional clinic regulations as “misguided” and unnecessary.

Illinois Radio Network contributed to this report.

HB4117

HB4085

Sen. Dick Durbin says the U.S. House should be scrapped because it would stop funneling money to transit networks. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

CHICAGO – Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin says Republicans in the U.S. House should start over rather than push forward with a troubled bill on long-term funding for transportation.

He said yesterday that the bill stands little chance of passing with so much opposition. Urban Democrats and Republicans alike worry the bill would put city transit agencies in jeopardy.

Instead, Durbin is promoting an alternative Senate bill that he says has bipartisan support and does not touch the steady, reliable funding transit agencies get from the federal gasoline tax. The House version would stop funneling that money to transit networks, drawing numerous objections.

But some in Congress also object to the Senate legislation because it would only cover two years. The House bill is a five-year blueprint for transportation funding.

The Illinois Audubon Society reports 2,152 bald eagles counted in Illinois in January. (Photo by David Welker/Getty Images)

SPRINGFIELD – A new count shows there were slightly more bald eagles in Illinois this January compared with January of last year.

The Illinois Audubon Society released the numbers on Tuesday, saying there were 2,152 eagles counted. That’s up from the 2,108 counted in January 2011. Surveyors use 44 routes in Illinois to count bald eagles. Of those, 29 are along the Mississippi River and nine on the Illinois River. Others are on the Ohio River, Wabash River, Crab Orchard Lake, Horseshoe Lake Conservation Area and Carlyle Lake.

The largest eagle populations, 76 percent, were found along the Mississippi River. The second most were counted on the Illinois River, at 36 percent of the total. Of the total, 60 percent were adults and 40 percent were immature eagles.

Illinois is seeking a waiver to the federal No Child Left Behind Act. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois has a plan to change the way it evaluates the progress of schools and students. The state is submitting it to the U.S. Department of Education.

The Illinois State Board of Education announced details of the plan Tuesday. Targets would be set for each school, each district and for subgroups of students. The goal would be to reduce achievement gaps and the percentage of students not making progress.

Schools and districts would be measured in multiple ways, including graduation rates and achievement in math, reading and science.

The plan is the state’s waiver application to the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Ten states have received No Child Left Behind waivers from the federal government. They are excused from meeting certain deadlines in the No Child Left Behind law.

Illinois GOP chairman Pat Brady says Gov. Quinn has lacked leadership on the budget. (WJBC file photo)

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Republicans are criticizing parts of Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposed budget along with some of the ideas he’s likely to detail.

According to a budget briefing yesterday, Quinn will propose closing several state facilities during his address today, including the female prison in Dwight and the “supermax” prison in Tamms.  Quinn plans to have inmates from Dwight moved to the state prison in Lincoln, while inmates from Tamms would be moved to Pontiac.

The Democrat has also asked several agencies to cut spending.

However, the overall budget is more than last year.

Republican Sen. Matt Murphy says the closures are a step in the right direction toward cutting spending, but more should be done.

Other GOP leaders who spoke a day ahead of the address condemned Quinn’s other ideas and past actions.

Illinois GOP Chairman Pat Brady and Congressman Aaron Schock accused Quinn of showing no leadership on pensions and warned him not to build the budget on projections of Medicaid savings that may never materialize.

Obama joined in on a rendition of "Sweet Home Chicago" Tuesday night at the White House. (Getty Images)

President Obama knows less is more when it comes to singing politicians.

The White House celebrated the blues in the east room last night and instead of the blues getting everybody down, they were dancing with President Obama getting in on the action.

It was a two-hour show featuring  B.B. King, Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy and Mick Jagger.  During the all-star finale of “Sweet Home Chicago,” at the urging of Buddy Guy, President Obama joining in for the chorus.  He quickly left after thanking the guests and performers.

The show will air on Monday night on PBS starting at 8 p.m. CST.

Watch a video clip below:

Can this man make you laugh? He certainly hopes so! (Photo courtesy of Joe Strupek)

“Who said ‘Dying is easy, comedy is hard?’” asked amateur stand-up comedian Joe Strupek on Tuesday.

The assistant vice president of Public Affairs at State Farm is digging through his personal experience, looking for funny material to share during a special fundraiser for the Challenger Learning Center in Bloomington-Normal on Friday night.  The so-called “Funnyraiser” will feature local amateur comedians competing to tickle your funny bone.

The CLC Funnyraiser Comedy Night will be 6-9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24 at Heartland Community College’s Campus Cafe with WJBC’s Todd Wineburner as your host emcee. Tickets are available for $20 in advance or $25 at the door.  Proceeds will benefit local children through the CLC’s scholarship fund.

You might remember Joe from his cameo appearance on State Farm’s viral video about the dangers of deep frying your turkey last Thanksgiving and Christmas.  True, he played the straight man to a very comical William Shatner, but Joe made me laugh at the end of the video just the same. It’s certainly a good start!

Joe has also performed with Community Players Theatre, and if you want to follow his brand of humor on Twitter, he’s @Strupey.

The people who work with him apparently weren’t shocked when Joe told them he planned to try out the stand-up comedy scene.

“They know I think I’m funny … whether they think I’m funny, I don’t know,” he joked.

Click below to listen to Joe on WJBC:

You might also recognize a few other comic hopefuls on stage:  WJBC Forum commentator and Mitsubishi spokesman Dan Irvin, Dr. Jay Ansher, Pixie Clemons, Doug Minter and Dave Selzer will all compete. During their friendly competition, audience members will play an active role in determining the evening’s winner.

Prizes will be awarded for “Crowd Favorite” which is determined by audience members voting with their dollars for their favorite comedians and “Judges’ Choice” as determined by a panel of comedy monitors who say they know funny!  (Todd was last year’s “Crowd Favorite” by the way.)

The Heartland Student Cafe will be turned into a comedy lounge complete with cash bar, appetizers from the Ozark House and silent auction items.

You can get your tickets by stopping by the Challenger Learning Center at Heartland Community College, calling (309) 268-8110 or you can purchase them online.

— Beth

Dacia Feit and Karin McDowell are part of the 2012 Leadership McLean County Program graduating their 600th participant in April.

Dacia Feit and Karin McDowell are part of the 2012 McLean County Chamber of Commerce Leadership program.

They are attending biweekly classes and working with their small groups from the class to address the needs of various organizations in the community. They recently visited area schools to get a perspective of the education system in McLean County.

The leadership program will graduate their 600th participant this April.

Get information on the McLean County Chamber here.

You can hear the interview with Dacia Feit, Karin McDowell and WJBC’s Patti Penn below:

The past week also saw China with a key soybean buy, according to Curt Kimmel, commodity broker with Bates Commodities in Normal. The USDA announced Tuesday morning it had sold another 250,000 tons of beans to China, keeping over all demand strong.  There had been concern that China might shift demand to the southern hemisphere, but that hasn’t happened due to shortfalls in the crop there.

Bean exports had been running behind last year’s pace through the winter, which was disappointing, but Kimmel said China is working to build reserves.  The annual USDA World Outlook conference later this week will show more long-term projections.

“We’re seeing the beans kind of take over leadership in the complex here,” said Kimmel.

The next big event will be release of the acreage numbers at the end of March and the spring weather forecast.  A shortfall of moisture this winter is a concern for the trade, but this weather pattern indicates the possibility of an early spring, which could mean positive news for the growing season.

“The producer typically plants a few more corn acres the earlier he gets in; and secondly, the earlier we get in, the pollination time window is a little earlier and avoids some of that late summer heat that we’ve been exposed to in the past,” said Kimmel.

Kimmel said yield moves the bottom line of the supply/demand sheet more than anything, so traders will watch meteorologists and weather forecasts very closely here in the weeks and months to come.

Kimmel said what’s going on in Europe has taken a back seat to other factors.

“One day they’re going to get it resolved, the next day it’s a problem again,” said Kimmel.

Overall, he said it feels like the market is comfortable with the situation in Europe.  He predicts the focus may now shift to Iran.

Fund money will also continue to be an underlying factor.

“We’ve got some money on the sidelines here, looking for a home.  We feel that fund money is going to continue to be the dominant factor.  Today’s technology makes the market a lot more accessible.  Individual traders, for example, can trade on your iPhone… the technology is there where people can jump in and jump out real quick,” said Kimmel.

Kimmel said a smaller crop during the growing season would likely spur a large flow of fund money coming back to commodities this summer.

The other thing to highlight with regard to commodities right now is the livestock market, which Kimmel called “unbelievable.”

“We’re looking at a situation where producers are going to have to have an armed guard to take these cattle to market, because we’re looking at prices almost double what we’ve seen in the past,” said Kimmel.

Although input costs have risen, prices for cattle have risen along with them.  Domestic consumption of beef has gone down, but a smaller cattle herd and a large demand from Asia has added strength to the market.

To hear the interview with Curt Kimmel, click here:

Carrie Muehling can be reached at carrie@wjbc.com.

State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, joins WJBC’s Beth Whisman at 7:10 a.m. (Photo courtesy of Illinois House Republicans)

BLOOMINGTON – WJBC’s on-air schedule starts Wednesday with a preview of Gov. Pat Quinn’s much-anticipated budget speech.

State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, joins WJBC’s Beth Whisman at 7:10 a.m.

Jonathan Nelson, the student trustee on Heartland Community College’s Board of Trustees, chats with Beth at 8:10 a.m.

The guys from Kingston Financial will be in studio and taking listener calls with WJBC’s Patti Penn in the 10 a.m. hour.

And Illinois State University athletics director Gary Friedman joins WJBC’s Jim Fitzpatrick in the 4 p.m. hour as the basketball schedule winds down.

Listen on WJBC 1230 AM, 93.7 FM or here at WJBC.com.

Check out WJBC’s full on-air show schedule.

Gary Walter (second from L), Dick Luedke (second from R) and Mike Matthews (R) provide play-by-play coverage on the WJBC Country Financial Illinois State Radio Network. (Photo by B Corbin/WJBC)

The Illinois State men will take the Redbird Arena floor one final time this season against 19th-ranked Wichita State on Wednesday.

The Redbirds are locked in one of the closest Missouri Valley Conference races in history. ISU (8-8) is tied with Drake and Evansville for fourth place, while the third and eighth place teams are just two games apart. 

Wichita State (14-2) has established itself as the MVC team to beat, having won six consecutive games and assuring itself at least a tie for the regular season title.

Pregame coverage begins at 6:10 p.m. with the WJBC GoRedbirds.com Extra. Redbird Preview is at 6:30 p.m. on WJBC 1230 AM, 93.7 FM, the WJBC Country Financial Illinois State Redbird Network and here on WJBC.com.

Eric Stock can be reached at eric@wjbc.com.

Heartland Community College students are facing another tuition and fee increase starting this summer, but it’ll be less than the past two years. (WJBC file photo)

NORMAL – Heartland Community College students are facing another tuition and fee increase starting this summer, but it’ll be less than the past two years.

Heartland’s Board of Trustees approved the $5 increase in tuition and fees per credit hour, from $131 to $136. That includes $127 in tuition (increased $4), a $7 student life fee (increased $1), and an unchanged construction fee of $2.

The increase is less than the $20 per credit hour hike two years ago, and the $15 increase last year, Heartland President Allen Goben told trustees. Those larger increases were to help offset flat state funding while helping Heartland catch up with the campus’ rapid growth, including lots of hiring, Goben said.

“It’s a much more modest approach to handling the finances (next year), and we’ve been telling folks and reminding them we won’t be adding 20 positions next year, because that’s not really feasible to do with the budget,” Goben said.

State funding has been fading in recent years, said Rob Widmer, vice president of business services at Heartland. The initial concept for community college funding, he said, was one-third local taxpayers, one-third students, and one-third state support.

“That clearly hasn’t been the case in recent years,” Widmer said.

He said that Heartland’s next fiscal year, 2013, might see less than 5 percent of its operating revenue coming from state coffers.

Heartland’s student trustee, Jonathan Nelson, said he supported the tuition and fee increase, citing the hiring of more full-time faculty and increased access to child care and on-campus computer labs. He said he surveyed students to get their thoughts.

“Not a whole lot of concern with the (amount) of raise. They were more concerned about what services would be provided to the students, and full-time faculty was a big part of that,” Nelson said.

Technology funding

Heartland’s board also took the first steps toward issuing $4.5 million in bond debt to fund instructional and administrative technology improvements over the next two years.

The college does this every two years; it was done in 2010 for the same amount of money. Officials say 75 percent of the money this time will go toward hardware, with the rest split between software and license fees, maintenance and professional services.

Officials said they expect virtually no change in the overall district tax rate as a result of this funding.

Ryan Denham can be reached at ryan@wjbc.com.