The Dirt Lawyer's Blog Archive

I know I am going against the grain here, at least those in the Tribune and Sun-Times who think former governor George Ryan should rot in jail for another 5 years. While I see their points, I respectfully disagree. Senator Dick Durbin and I agree on virtually nothing. But I'm glad to see he is at least considering sending a letter to President Bush asking for executive clemency. "Let's look at the price he's paid," Durbin told reporters at the Statehouse. "His family name has been damaged. He is at an advanced moment in his life and been removed from his family. He has lost the economic security, which most people count on at his age. And he's separate from his wife at a time when she is in frail health. "To say that he's paid a price for his wrongdoing, he certainly has. And the question is whether continued imprisonment is appropriate at this point," Durbin said. Michael Sneed has a sympathetic column in the Times . Eric Zorn in the ...

I've been meaning to write about this for a couple of weeks, but just plain forgot. Joe Nugent and Chris Curtis, two local real estate brokers, have teamed up to form Nugent Curtis Real Estate, LLC down here in Kankakee. Joe and Chris are both good guys whom I know a little through some deals and their reputation. (Full disclosure: Joe was also kind enough, shortly after he started out on his own a couple of years ago, to spend an evening with me and my wife and her partners looking at land, and, while we never bought anything, we were and are grateful for his courtesy and professionalism.) I think they'll be a good team, and I wish them well.

Now it is Taco Bell and 36,000 sf of spec retail, with a dozen outlots to go. Although I'll probably never go there, this could be a nice little project when done. Maybe it ought to be with the breaks it gets. At first I did not understand why someone would put a retail project at the south end of Kankakee, which, despite protestations to the contrary, is not the center of growth where I live. (Even the Chamber of Commerce moved to Bourbonnais, for Pete's sake.) But now I get it. You attract some locals but you also get regional activity for probably 35 miles south, and these people have money and buy, buy, buy. Super Wal-Mart just has that kind of power, regardless of the fact that today it did not make its numbers and lowered its guidance for the rest of the year.

What does food have to do with dirt? Development, development, development, my friends. Let me say this right out of the box: I come not to bash Bolingbrook but to praise it. My parents moved to Bolingbrook when I was a little kid, and I consider it my hometown. And I still own property in Bolingbrook. I've written about this to some extent before so I will try not to bore you too much. Bolingbrook in the early 1970s was a small town in the middle of the world's largest cornfield. No stoplights, one grocery (Totura's, which is still in Lemont), no post office, one fast food restaurant (Mr. Quick), a 7-11 and, if I recall correctly, a Union 76 truck stop and three gas stations (Shell, Standard and Hauck Oil [now Speedway]). That was about it. The growth of Bolingbrook into a village of 75,000 has been a sight to see. And I have enjoyed the ride, even though the 70s and 80s were bumpy because of crowded schools, congestion and other growth-associated problems. It took about 2...