SHIFTS AT THE TOP
John McGovern is now communications director for U.S. Senate candidate Peter Fitzgerald. He left his position as press chief for the Illinois Republican Party to take the post. McGovern worked for Rich Williamson during his run against U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun in the 1992 race.

Scott Richard Lassar was appointed U.S. attorney for the Northern District by President Bill Clinton. Lassar, of Highland Park, served as interim U.S. attorney from August 1997 until his appointment on July 20.

W. James Farrell, CEO of Illinois Toolworks Inc. in Glenview, has been named chairman of the board of Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. He began his three-year term in June. Farrell succeeds Schwartz Co. Chairman and CEO Andrew J. McKenna.

Norton Kaye, former press secretary for the Glenn Poshard for Governor campaign, and James Merriner, former deputy press secretary, left Poshard's staff in early August, only weeks after they were appointed. Their departures followed a series of miscues between Poshard and his aides.

SCHOOLS:
NOW HIRING
The Help Wanted sign went up quickly. In just 21 days, the Illinois State Board of Education accepted outgoing State Superintendent of Education Joseph Spagnolo's resignation; named Robert Mandeville interim state superintendent; put together an interim management team; waded through advice from 400 Illinois citizens; and, on August 6, hired the Deerfield-based Bickert Group Ltd. to conduct a national search for a new schools chief. The estimated cost for the search: $67,500.

The "not cast in concrete" plan is to identify a candidate in time for the board's scheduled October 22 meeting.

Before contracting with the Bickert Group, the interim management team met with the board to identify expectations for the new superintendent. One is effective management.

Spagnolo had been under fire for the past year for a number of administrative slipups. Most recently, health tests given to as many as 2,500 11th-graders statewide contained questions referring to oral and anal sex.

When pressed to name qualities the new superintendent ought to possess, Mandeville cited demonstrated leadership ability, as well as an in-depth understanding of educational issues. The individual needs to "know what a standard is and what it means to test against the standard."

"The ideal candidate probably doesn't exist," Mandeville added in an August telephone interview.

Further, Mandeville said it's unlikely the successful candidate will start before January 1. He intends to leave the board a few months after the new superintendent takes the helm.

Is Mandeville himself a candidate? "No. I retired in 1991," said the former state budget director, who has specialized of late in helping to bail out ailing public agencies. "I'm looking forward to reading mystery novels and smoking good cigars out on my back deck."

Meanwhile, Spagnolo has accepted a three-month, Joyce Foundation-funded fellowship at Governors State University in University Park.

42 ¦ September 1998 Illinois Issues

DEAD OR ALIVE
An uninvited guest, the Asian longhorned beetle is now a public enemy in Illinois. And the state Department of Agriculture has officially declared any tree infested with the "exotic pest" to be a "nuisance."

Warren Goetsch, the agency's bureau chief of environmental programs, says that gives the department authority, under the Insect, Pest and Plant Disease Act, to order homeowners to destroy infested trees. Removal will probably occur in late November, he says.

Three areas of the state are under quarantine, meaning infested wood cannot be removed from those areas.

Goetsch says 120 infested trees have been found in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood; 20 in DuPage County; and another three in Summit, southwest of Chicago.

All three areas are near industries that use packing pallets from overseas.

Nevertheless, Goetsch says department officials are feeling more optimistic due to the public's cooperation in helping turn the beetles in.

Honors
Amazing woman
Elissa Bassler, public policy program director for the Day Care Action Council of Illinois, was honored this summer at a White House luncheon hosted by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. She was one of eight winners of Redbook magazine's "Amazing Women of 1998" award recognizing women who have fought the odds to help children and families have better lives. Bassler was recognized for her work pushing legislation through the Illinois legislature during the 1997 spring session that resulted in a $100 million allocation for children, the largest state child care grant ever.

TRANSITIONS
Illinois Issues is losing two good journalists. Jennifer Davis has left her job as Statehouse bureau chief to become a reporter for the Peoria Journal Star. She had been with the magazine for a year and a half. Donald Sevener has assumed responsibilities as the director of communications for the Board of Higher Education. Sevener had been on the magazine's staff for five years. He directed special projects for three of those years.

Joseph Tyber, formerly with the Chicago Tribune, begins duties this month as the new press secretary for the Illinois Supreme Court. Tyber replaces John Madigan, who retired last spring.

Niki Ziegler of The Associated Press has moved from the AP's Springfield bureau to the Chicago bureau.

David Heckelman, Statehouse bureau chief for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin for the past nine years, has moved on to the Legislative Reference Bureau where he will draft legislation.

OBIT
Jack. Brickhouse
Broadcaster Jack Brickhouse died of a heart attack on August 6. The 82 year-old Brickhouse, best remembered as the voice of the Chicago Cubs, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.

Brickhouse broadcast over 5,000 Cubs games from 1940 to 1981, but he also covered the Chicago White Sox, the Bulls and the Bears. Gov Jim Edgar, in a written release, said, "I grew up listening to Jack Brickhouse call games and was fortunate to be able to call him a friend. His unflagging optimism in the face of futility on the field was an inspiration for us all."

Hey, hey, Jack. Please give our regards to Harry.

Illinois Issues September 1998 ¦ 43