The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 12

www.pantagraph.com A12 The Pantagraph Friday, August 1, 2008 LEARNING FROM Al Gov. scales back capital plan 2 i ir mm. ii i i nA Michael Madigan Rod Blagojevich 1 if Jr I I Other leaders were quick to pile on Madigan after thejj meeting with Blagojevich. "All they do in the House is just sit and criticize. So let the bridges fall, let our roads crumble, you know, let our schools go without the capital needs that they deserve and all they do is complain," Democratic Senate President Emil Jones said.

It's "a travesty" the Democrats can't agree on how to do a capital bill or how to pay for it, said Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson. "The inability of these people to agree on anything is just incredible, it's criminal, it's outrageous. We can't stand for this," said Watson of Greenville. Currie contends many fellow House Democrats don't trust Blagojevich to fulfill project commitments in a capital plan no matter its size. Some fear there aren't enough safeguards to keep Blagojevich from diverting money to his pet projects and punishing lawmakers who crossed him.

"Unfortunately there's not a lot of trust in the governor among members of our caucus," Currie said, pledging to bring Blagojevich's latest proposal back to House Democrats. By Deanna Bellandl ASSOCIATED PRESS CHICAGO Gov. Rod Blago-jevich tried to revive his proposed statewide construction program on Thursday by ratcheting down the price tag and abandoning gambling expansion to pay for it. But the concessions may not be enough to resuscitate the plan stalled by his feuding with lawmakers and legislative infighting. Top lawmakers met with Blagojevich for nearly two hours about the overhaul that shrinks the program to fix Illinois' infrastructure and more to $25 billion from $34 billion.

But a surrogate who attended the meeting in place of House Speaker Michael Madigan said the plan still has problems. The proposal relies in part on a partial lease of the state lottery, an idea that Democratic House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie called "a hard sell." Blagojevich's proposed overhaul of the capital plan is a testament to just how much relations have devolved in Springfield where both chambers and the governor's office are controlled by Democrats. Republican former U.S. House Speaker She has a whole array of new ideas after taking the program, which included lessons at Eureka Middle School's high ropes course, at Summit's Edge in Morton, and at ISU. "I have a wealth of stuff" to help students work collaboratively, she said.

Peggy Selvey of Goodfield will share ideas with her language arts students thanks to "exercises like the "dangling duo," where trust of a partner is essential. "The most interesting part of the class is the activities that build interpersonal relationships," she said. Emily Frederick, a gymnast and swimmer as a student, is now a PE teacher at Taft Elementary School in Joliet, was accustomed to the physical challenge but said she gained ideas for her students and fellow teachers. Bob Grimes, a fifth-grade teacher at Colene Hoose Elementary School in Normal, will use the "icebreakers." "They can have fun and learn at the same time," said Grimes, who coaches Normal Community High School soft-ball. Peoria primary school principal Cathy Wiggers watched everything from the ground.

Next time, she will participate with her staff of 57 teachers, custodians, cooks and all. "Success in school is all about building relationships," she said. .1 Dennis Hastert and former Democratic congressman Glenn Poshard, now Southern Illinois University's president, worked for nearly five months to try to put together a deal. Blagojevich didn't miss a chance to blast Madigan again for skipping a meeting with him again and the other three top lawmakers about the stalled capital plan. "He sends minions who admittedly say they have no authority to negotiate or make any decisions," Blagojevich said.

The governor said he would try to pass a law requiring Madigan to come to meetings if he could. Madigan and Blagojevich have a running feud and the state House's top Democrat has refused meetings with the governor, calling them '7 liar in nnriif --'-iinTiiiiiitowwiiiiiia i aw The PantaqraphB MOSHER Chiddix Junior High School teacher Darby Venerable, left, of Bloomington, stands on the ladder after unhooking Olympia High School Teacher Amanda Hapgood, of Bloomington, from her zip line. PILL FROM Al is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." "He exemplifies that," Hapgood said. King, who also does corporate team-building training, wears a T-shirt emblazoned with his message: "Education GAS FROM Al DIABETES FROM Al screenings about twice as many people as were screened in 2006. In addition, the percentage of residents who received each of the four screenings increased between 13 and 18 percent.

"These are phenomenal outcomes for a relatively brief time frame," said Dr. Kim Reed, Blue Cross and Blue Shield senior medical director. Getting screened is the first step to better diabetes management, Avery and Reed said. They encouraged people who think they are at risk of diabetes to meet with their doctor. The program will continue, Baurer and Reed said.

the experiment with sedentary mice was suggested by an outside scientist who was reviewing the lab's research, "I didn't think it was going to work." The no-exercise drug is called AICAR. Previous experiments suggest that it might protect against gaining weight on a high-fat diet, which might make it useful for treating obesity, Evans said. But it would have to be taken for a long time, he said, so its safety in people would have to be assured. Experts who study muscle agreed that a drug like AICAR may prove useful someday in treating obesity and diabetes. Many drug companies are working on such drugs in diabetes because in animals, AICAR stimulates muscles to remove sugar from the blood, noted Laurie Goodyear of the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston.

In Pontiac, gas remained just shy of $3.80. "Well, to my understanding, prices are going down," Ber-nice Canhan of Cabery said while fueling her van. "I hear that it's $3.33 in Missouri, so hopefully we will catch up to them." Sykuta said studies show larger retailers typically keep track of the average gas price and lower their cost. Other stations attempt to compete but may raise prices to make up for lost money. Anti-Doping Agency.

Evans said he has no financial interest in either drug or the test. Resveratrol, a substance being studied for anti-aging effects, has also been reported to enable mice to run farther before exhaustion without exercise training. But the drugs in the new study appear to act more specifically on a process in muscles that boosts endurance, the researchers said. Still, it takes more than just altered muscles to turn a sedentary mouse into a distance runner, Evans said, and "honestly, I just don't know how that happens. Whether it would happen in a person, I don't know.

I think it's a small miracle it happened at all." In fact, Evans said that when distribution cost, but the main price factor is the price of oil." Ron Savage, owner of Trucking, said gas in Clinton went from $3.69 Wednesday to $3.91 Thursday. "Well, there is just no sense in it," Savage said about changing prices. "We need someone to run this country with common sense. It seems that the Republicans and Democrats don't have enough smarts on either side right now. Everybody has had problems with this, and trucking companies have had to put a surcharge on freights, and really that goes right back to the consumer." but that price was based on numbers supplied Wednesday and updated by 3 a.m.

Thursday, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report. The statewide average was $3.98 and the national average was $3.91, said AAA spokeswoman Nicole Niemi. "The prices have been going down for a little more than a week recently," Niemi said. "There are so many factors that attribute to the price of gasoline, such as the political situation, refining cost and Michael Freimann of Pantagraph.com and The Associated Press contributed to this report. TodayWeathcr Today High Low 6-DAY GLANCE Sunday High Low 93 71 Sunny to partly cloudy, hot.

Wednesday High Low 86 66 Mostly cloudy, thunderstorms. Tuesday t) High Low 93 73 Hot and humid, isolated t-storms. Saturday High Low 87 70 Sunny and seasonably warm. Monday High Low 97 75 Mostly sunny and very hot. Afc.

89 68 Scattered VP" thunderstorms. NATIONAL FORECAST REGIONAL FORECAST RANSOM'S LOCAL OUTLOOK By Lee Ranson, WEEK-TV August is usually pretty hot and humid around here, and it will be like that all weekend. Mostly sunny skies will heat temperatures ''h. 100s KansasCty r' '5 AttMlt Vir- 1no El Paso Mwpte i m'imm to near yu this afternoon. Rockfortli, 8562 tssr ff oCir 8970 8465 i B677 i r' Burlington fflL Peona VH 9067 j.

1 V' a BLOOMINGTON jL afayette Macomb 3 Sl68 9067 I Champaign i 9269 WlT IrrtaWdsV 92,69 8969 rr- Decatur eh Jt 9268 Ly Terre Haute 7 9070 Effingham Z-r 9269 9577 EvansviUei feoragojuneau DUa 6454 6351 8875 Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. Forecast highlow temperatures are given for selected cities. AROUND THE WORLD Today Hi Lo LOCAL LOG Bloomington-Normal 100 76 76 64 86 58 100 79 92 79 83 62 87 67 87 74 89 76 Owensboro narhnniia IP I A Yesterday's high Yesterday's low Normal high Normal low Record high Record low 83 68 85 65 103 in 1916 49 in 1971 9370 Qfi71 4 Shown is today's weather. Temperatures are today's highs and tonight's lows.

90 70 pc 101 76 Yesterday Today City Hi Lo Hi Lo Athens 86 77 90 73 Baghdad 113 87 117 88 Beijing 86 75 84 71 ts Berlin 88 63 84 65 ts Buenos Aires 57 45 59 45 Cairo 93 77 96 74 Dublin 63 57 65 53 sh Geneva 88 64 83 64 ts Havana 91 72 91 79 ts Hong Kong 91 79 88 79 ts London 79 63 69 54 sh Madrid 91 59 98 69 Mexico City 75 59 72 51 ts Montreal 81 68 79 60 ts Moscow 66 54 73 53 ts New Delhi 87 78 89 78 ts Oslo 81 54 77 56 sh Paris 93 68 73 55 PC Rio de Janeiro 91 70 81 62 Rome 86 68 91 73 PC Seoul 86 75 87 70 pc Singapore 90 81 90 79 ts Sydney 70 43 60 43 sh Tel Aviv 88 75 92 73 Tokyo 86 73 88 76 ts Toronto 79 66 81 62 pc Vancouver 61 54 68 57 sh Vienna 84 61 85 66 ts Warsaw 81 54 79 59 AROUND THE NATION Yesterday Today Yesterday City Hi Lo Hi Lo City Hi Lo Albany 84 70 85 61 ts little Rock 99 78 Albuquerque 95 70 96 69 dc LosAnqeles 73 63 Anchorage 67 55 64 54 pc Madison 84 62 Atlanta 90 75 90 73 pc Memphis 96 78 Baltimore 84 73 92 66 pc Miami 91 77 Billinqs 86 55 99 63 Milwaukee 81 67 Birmingham 90 78 92 71 pc Minneapolis 85 68 Bismarck 83 62 95 66 Mobile 86 75 Boise 96 62 90 59 New Orleans 87 76 Boston 84 67 85 68 ts New York 89 75 Buffalo 81 67 79 61 pc Oklahoma City 96 74 Charlotte 93 73 95 70 pc Omaha 92 70 Cheyenne 87 64 96 62 Orlando 88 73 Chicago 88 7 2 8 5 67 ts Philadelphia 85 75 Cincinnati 91 72 90 70 ts Phoenix 111 86 Cleveland 87 68 84 65 ts Pittsburgh 84 68 Columbia, SC 94 75 96 72 pc Portland, OR 82 51 Dallas 103 80 101 80 ts Raleigh 95 73 Daytona Beach 90 74 90 74 ts Rapid City 87 67 Denver 95 67 101 68 Reno 92 59 Des Moines 87 70 89 68 pc Sacramento 90 59 Detroit 87 66 85 66 ts St. Louis 86 71 Duluth 74 56 80 56 Salt Lake City 96 64 Fairbanks 50 48 68 52 sh San Antonio 96 79 Fargo 83 63 87 62 San Diego 74 66 Honolulu 88 77 88 75 San Francisco 66 55 Houston 98 78 96 78 ts Seattle 70 51 Indianapolis 88 71 89 69 ts Spokane 83 50 Jackson, MS 93 76 90 75 ts Tampa 86 75 Juneau 54 51 63 51 pc Topeka 87 68 Kansas City 86 68 95 79 Tucson 103 75 Las Vegas 108 82 109 85 Washington 88 78 SKYWATCH O0O0 93 70 91 74 92 71 113 90 84 63 70 56 95 70 100 63 94 60 93 61 95 77 98 73 98 77 76 66 65 54 69 54 76 52 88 77 97 74 105 79 92 74 PRECIPITATION Yesterday None July to date 3.93" Average July to date 3.95" Year to date 23.41" Average year to date 22.49" AIR QUALITY FORECAST Friday Yellow Legend: Green good; Yellow moderate: Orange unhealthy for sensitive groups; Red unhealthy; Purple very unhealthy; Maroon hazardous. Source: www.airnovy.gov What to watch Solar eclipses, like the one seen this morning from Russia Eastern Europe, can only occur during new moon. Tonight's razor-thin crescent moon may not be visible for much of the country try to see it tomorrow night. Source: Morrison Planetarium, San Francisco New Full First Last Aug.

1 Aug. 8 Aug. 16 Aug. 23 8:10 p.m. 5:55 a.m.

5:59 a.m. 8:29 p.m. Sunset today Sunrise Sat. Moonrise today Moonset today LEGEND: s-sunny. pfrpartly cloudy, c-cioudy, sh-showers, (-thunderstorms, r-rain, l-ice, sf-snow flurries, si-snow, Prec-precipitation.

W-weather. Get round-the-clock local weather updates online at www.pantagraph.com You've heard about it. You know someone who's been in it. Now it's time for you to join the cast of Central Illinois' premiere holiday extravaganza. We're looking for all ages, singers, dancers, actors, builders, painters, seamstresses, anyone with a desire to be part of this fun event.

Meet the directors and the production crew. HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR AUDITIONS Starts at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, August 2 Illinois State University's Braden Auditorium Goto www.holidayspectacular.org for a Complete Schedule THE PARAGRAPH'S HOLIDAY- i "I I 7 JEMS iff ifl.