Illinois Reform Commission says time is ripe for change

CHAMPAIGN – If Illinois is ever going to clean up its image as a corrupt state, there's no better time than now, three members of Gov. Pat Quinn's Illinois Reform Commission said Monday.

"The scandals make this a much better climate to achieve change, make people angry in a real and tangible way," said David Hoffman, the inspector general of the city of Chicago and one of three reform commission members to attend a two-hour hearing Monday before about 60 people at the University of Illinois law school. "There are windows of opportunity in terms of achieving change. There's no question this one of them. I don't know if we're the only state in the union that has had back-to-back governors, one convicted and one indicted. My guess is that's never happened before."

Also on this date

• I-74 shooting victim identified
• AARP urges passage of health insurance reform
• Urbana man robbed of cash
• Two people injured in crash
• Native American signs vandalized on campus
• Firefighters at scene of blaze in St. Joseph
• Students mark marathon by running their own in bits
• UI's interim business dean made permanent
• New Parkland program, logo promote environmentalism
• Obituaries

» More