Source:
Sauk Valley NewspapersSTERLING – If you plan to attend Tuesday’s hearing on the Thomson Correctional Center at Sterling High School, be prepared: Parking is apt to be a nightmare, there will be a heavy police presence and more than a few security measures will be in place.
Logistics for the event still were being worked out Friday afternoon.
The bipartisan state Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability is holding the hearing, as mandated by law, to gather comments on the Department of Corrections plan to close the prison, then sell it to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
The federal government plans use part of the facility to house terrorism suspects from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which has angered many people.
Forty-two members of the General Assembly are scheduled to attend the hearing, including state Reps. Jerry Mitchell, R-Sterling, Jim Sacia, R-Pecatonica, and Mike Boland, D-East Moline, and state Sen. Tim Bivins, R-Dixon.
Gov. Pat Quinn, who is in favor of the sale, will not be attending, his office has said.
Thursday, state Attorney General Lisa Madigan said Quinn does not need approval from the General Assembly to sell the prison, as some had thought; he merely needs to follow state law and hold the hearing.
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http://www.saukvalley.com/articles/2009/12/19/70511524/index.xml
Tea-Bag Counter-Protest (Gitmo Trials)Tuesday, December 22nd 2009 1 P.M.
Sterling, IL USA
Opponents of a plan to house Guantanamo Bay detainees in Carroll County say they’ll protest the move before a public hearing to be held by an advisory panel made up of state House and Senate members.
Illinois TEA Party Patriots plan to rally outside Sterling High School’s Centennial Auditorium 1 hour before the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability opens a mandatory hearing on the sale of Thomson Correctional Center to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Real American patriots are asked to show up and demand justice, rather than revenge, from our government, and to remind our Tea-Bagging neighbors that we are nation of laws.
Location:
Sterling High School Centennial Auditorium 1608 Fourth Ave Sterling IL 61081