People all over the country still suspect the presidential vote count was corrupt. I checked out one red-flag tally in Florida.
Author Archives: Jeff Balch
Posted inNews & Politics
At Home With the Senator
“Hello, this is Paul,” said the man who answered the phone. The voice was unmistakably Senator Simon’s. I reached him last summer at a number I’d gotten out of the phone book. I paused, then launched into my spiel–I’d been a supporter during his presidential run in ’88 (“Thank you,” he said) and my wife […]
Posted inNews & Politics
End of the Road
The road rage murder of bike messenger Thomas McBride finally goes to court.
Posted inNews & Politics
Justice Deferred
To the editor: Readers of my cover story in the issue of September 21, “Mean Streets,” might be interested to know that the trial of Carnell Fitzpatrick, accused of killing bicyclist Thomas McBride with an SUV, has been pushed back to November 26. Jeff Balch
Posted inNews & Politics
Mean Streets
Two years ago bicycle messenger Thomas McBride was killed in a confrontation with an SUV. As the driver, charged with first-degree murder, finally goes on trial, cyclists see little improvement in the situation that led to the tragedy.
Posted inNews & Politics
Bike Hazzards Bill Deflated
Bicyclists’ rights advocates felt optimistic in April when the Illinois senate passed the Bicycle Safety Restoration Act by a vote of 54 to 0. But last week the measure died in the Illinois house’s judiciary committee, which deadlocked on the bill and prevented it from moving forward. Illinois bicyclists haven’t had liability protection since 1998, […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Biker’s Update: Boub Reconsidered
Biker’s Update: Boub Reconsidered By Jeff Balch On October 22, 1998, bicyclists in Illinois lost one of their basic rights. “On my way to the office that morning, if I’d ridden into a sewer hole and gotten badly hurt I had a chance of being protected by liability law,” says Randy Neufeld, director of the […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Racist Baiting
By the time I arrived at the county courthouse in Skokie last Saturday, the Ku Klux Klan rally was in full swing. I counted more than 400 protesters and more than 100 police, some on horseback. I’d read that about 30 KKK members were expected, but I couldn’t see or hear them. They were near […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Preaching to the Choir
To the editor: Michael Solot’s review (June 2) of John Colapinto’s book about the unfortunate David Reimer deserves a less biased response than that offered by Carla Hess (Letters, June 9). Ms. Hess begins by attempting to ridicule what she calls Solot’s “true agenda,” revealed “when Solot asks whether Reimer has ‘any special insight into […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Traveling Second-Class
The Illinois Supreme Court tells bicyclists the roads are meant for cars.
Posted inArts & Culture
Visitor’s Guide
Madison Wisconsin Madison’s firefighters and gays and lesbians tend to head to different haunts. Here’s where you might find some of each. Many of those who quash Madison’s blazes get their after-hours drinks at the Caribou Tavern (703 E. Johnson, 608-257-5993), a cramped bar owned by retired police officer Denny Schmelzkopf. Schmelzkopf has never given […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Crash Landing
An Illinois cyclist learns the hard way about some little known rules of the road.