A three-car crash that tied up traffic between Chester and Steeleville yesterday sent several people to the hospital with minor injuries. Illinois State Police report a car driven by Micah Preuss, 21, of Steeleville was eastbound on Illinois 150 around Chester Road when it struck a car driven by Keira Claybourn, 28, of Sparta, from behind as it was turning left. That impact pushed Claybourn’s car into the side of a semitrailer driven by Dale Lembach, 54, of Jackson, Mo., which was westbound and had stopped. The Southern Illinoian reports that Preuss was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash. Preuss and Lembach both were wearing seat belts and were not injured. Claybourn also was wearing a seat belt and suffered moderate injuries, as did passenger Emily Albaugh, 31, of Chester. Two children in the car suffered no injuries.

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Governor Pat Quinn believes Illinois has turned the corner, but warns more tough decisions are coming.

In his State of the State address yesterday, Quinn highlighted successes, including expanded workforces at automobile plants upstate, and the Illinois Jobs Now! capitol plan working on roads statewide. Moving forward, the Governor proposed a six million dollar statewide competition to build ultra-high speed broadband across the state, the abolition of the natural gas utility tax, a Child Tax Credit, the Illinois Foreclosure Prevention Network to aid struggling homeowners, and a Hiring Veterans Tax Credit to put those returning from overseas to work. Citing a crumbling infrastructure, Quinn announced a plan to put thousands to work repairing broken water mains, building treatment plants, upgrading sewers and cleaning up environmental threats. As expected, he called for the high school dropout age to be raised to eighteen and called for investment in early childhood education.

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Not just Republicans, but members of the governor’s own party were left wanting, looking forward to hearing details of how Illinois is supposed to pay for the governor’s ideas, how to make the reality as good as Quinn made things sound.

“Now we have to come to the stark reality of where we are with the pensions, the health care costs, how we’re going to fund early childhood (education), more money in the MAP grant area,” says State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia (D-Aurora). “We’ve got some really serious work to do down here in this session.”

Some Republicans used phrases as strong as “fantasy island” and “whistling through the graveyard.” State Rep. David Leitch (R-Peoria) dismissed the speech as “happy talk,” and State Rep. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) said, “Beyond the glossing over of all the serious problems we have was the lack of any concrete solutions to address them.”

State Sen. Mike Frerichs (D-Champaign) said money used for the governor’s suggested tax credits could be better used on skills training for industrial jobs. State Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) said the governor could easily find money for lower-income college students if he would try to get rid of the controversial legislative scholarship program.

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During the address, Governor Quinn said Illinois is back on track but Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka says quite the contrary.

Republicans estimate that Quinn proposed spending roughly an additional half a billion dollars on his suggested programs.

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State Senator Dave Luechtefeld was not thrilled with the Governor’s address. In a statement Wednesday, Luechtefeld said “The Governor missed yet another opportunity to offer real leadership on our state’s two most pressing issues — job creation and reining in the budget. Quinn’s address left more unanswered questions versus sensible policies during this economic downturn.” Senator Luechtefeld will join us live on the People Speak one week from tomorrow.

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Illinois’ Republican Treasurer says he’s encouraged by some of what the governor said during Wednesday’s State of the State address, and will wait until the budget address before fully judging the fiscal implications of the governor’s proposals.

Some lawmakers panned the governor for only fleetingly mentioned the state’s unfunded pension and Medicaid liabilities, which increase every year. But Treasurer Dan Rutherford was encouraged the governor acknowledged the problem, and hopes this is the first step toward fixing it.

“It’s going to take some tough love right here at this capitol, and it’s going to take a lot of political courage,” he says. “He has challenged the General Assembly to have that, I support him on that challenge, and I hope it’s done.”

Rutherford says the fact the governor even mentioned Medicaid and pensions is a step in the right direction. Rutherford says the governor’s proposals, which include tax breaks for low income families and businesses that hire veterans among other areas, are good — but they need to be paid for.

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There’s a sense of excitement in some about Governor Quinn’s proposal to give more low-income students a chance to go to college. Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard says they turned down about half the students who qualified for aid last year when the state ran out of money.

Poshard says investing into a child’s future is the best thing a state can do both morally and ethically. He also supports the governor’s plan to boost the student dropout age from 17 to 18.

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After two consecutive months of gains, the University of Illinois Flash Index dipped slightly in January.

The Flash Index dipped to 98.8 reflecting the continued sluggish pace of economic recovery in Illinois. A reading below 100 indicates contraction in the state’s economy, while readings of 100 and higher indicate the state’s economy is growing. The Index hit 99.1 last month, a post-recession high.

Unemployment continues to be a significant drag on the economy according to U of I economist Fred Giertz, who compiles the Flash Index for the Institute of Government and Public Affairs. The state rate continues to hover near 10 percent and national employment levels remain relatively stagnant. “While the current (Flash) reading is still the second highest in over three years, it suggests that the Illinois economy is still improving very slowly,” Giertz said.

The Flash Index provides a monthly snapshot of the Illinois economy, using a weighted average of growth rates in the state’s corporate earnings, consumer spending and personal income. Tax receipts for the preceding month, adjusted for inflation, provide the data used to calculate the growth rates and the index on the first business day of each month. The growth rates for each component of the January index were calculated for the 12-month period using data through January 31, 2012.

Giertz says because January 2011 was a month of transition from old to new income tax rates, it is difficult to determine whether the January 2012 dip was the beginning of a new trend or a statistical anomaly.

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Obituaries today: Lou Ann Hubert, 78, of Sparta; Ruth A Keller, 71, of Cutler; and Dwain Steele Schafer, 66, of Chester.

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