“Estimates rank marijuana as the state’s leading agricultural commodity, even ahead of corn and soybeans,” according to the Compiler (Winter), published by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. “The estimated street value of marijuana eradicated through Illinois’ Operation Cash Crop in 1991 was $3.1 billion, compared to a 1991 estimated harvest value of $2.9 billion for corn and $1.9 billion for soybeans.”
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Bicyclists’ heaven, according to Randy Neufeld of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, in the words of Dale Eastman (New City, March 18): “A calmer world where children play safely and people meet most of their needs within a short walk or bicycle ride from home. It’s a world where transit systems are all interlinked, so someone could hop on a bike at home, ride to a bicycle parking lot (where a smiling attendant would gladly do minor repairs) to board a train into downtown. Once in town, they’d pick up a second bike at yet another bike parking lot and pedal to their job. Traffic calming devices would also abound: specially designed streets that prevent cars from driving too fast, intersection lights that give priority to crossing bicyclists and pedestrians, one-way streets that cut down on through-traffic and cul-de-sacs that allow only walkers and bikers, but not cars, to pass through.”
Illinois already has term limits–well, almost, according to Sangamon State University political scientist David Everson in Illinois Issues (March). “Of the 118 House members who took office in January 1983 after the 1981 redistricting, only 33 (27 percent) remained after the 1992 elections. For the Senate for the 10-year cycle, 19 of its 59 members seated in January 1993 were senators in 1983, for a 68 percent turnover.”
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): illustration/Carl Kock.
