2004 Democratic Primary

[muon2]

As a native, let me put my two cents in for IL. I do like hugento's 4 criteria: natural names, dominant jurisdiction, name matches, historic designation.

IL1: Chicago - South Cook
IL2: Chicago - Calumet (The old harbor area and river distinguigh this from the more westerly part of the south side and south Cook)
IL3: Chicago - Midway (Southwest doesn't capture it the same way the old airport does. We all know what the Midway area means.)
IL4: Chicago - Little Village/Hermosa (I picked two prominent neighborhoods on opposite arms in this intensely gerrymandered district.)
IL5: Chicago - Northwest (I was born here and there are too many distinct neighborhoods to pick one, the northwest side works well.)
IL6: DuPage (It only has half the county's population, but it has the right feeling.)
IL7: Chicago Loop/West (One has to put the Loop somewhere in this state's names.)
IL8: Chain-o-Lakes (The most prominent local feature for this upscale subrban district)
IL9: Chicago - North Cook
IL10: Great Lake (After the large naval training center, to distinguish it from the western half of Lake County.)
IL11: Heritage Canal (The National Historic Landmark I&M canal runs through the district and is easily recognized here.)
IL12: Great River South (Using the Mississippi as the marker of this diverse district.)
IL13: Naper (This uses the historic settlement name rather than the suburb that makes up 1/6 of the district's population.)
IL14: Fox Valley (Over half the district's population is in Kane and Kendall Counties on the Fox River, and the area is easily identified in the state this way.)
IL15: University (Three of the major institutions are here: Univeristy of Illinois, Illinois State University, and Eastern Illinois University.)
IL16: Rock Valley - Highland (This works better to encompass the areas in the district south and west of Rockford, but I could live with the name of city that is about 1/5 of the district's population.)
IL17: Great River North (See IL 12, and I can't imagine any other way to name this icon of gerrymandering.)
IL18: Illinois Valley (The river is the common feature.)
IL19: Kaskaskia (It's a good historic name, the community college in the district takes that name, and I'll overlook the fact that the actual site of the historic fort is in IL 12.)

[muon2]

IL12: Great River South (Using the Mississippi as the marker of this diverse district.)

..."Great River South" because to me that would be in Louisiana if anywhere. (In other words, names have to mean something to Illinoians (?), but they should also make sense outside the state.)

Another thought I have is to call the district Gateway. The reference is to the gateway arch in St. Louis, and I have heard the name used to refer to at least part of the area in Illinois.

[muon2]

Sorry folks.  Didn't know which thread to put this one under:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040601/us_nm/economy_dc_3

"Factories, Construction Are Booming"

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. factories cranked up output at a cracking pace in May and construction spending surged to a third straight record high in April, according to reports on Tuesday that showed the economy gathering speed."

You can read the rest of the article at the address provided above.

As good as any place.

We forget that the economic growth occurring now demands energy. That's a significant part of the reason for the $2 a gallon gas price. Though fears of attacks in the mideast are part of the high cost of gas, it's not the only reason.

Unfortunately I agree with jmfcst that it's hard for consumers to look past the price of gas when judging the economy.