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Jesse White: Be extra careful when driving in school zones

August 12, 2010

As schools all across Illinois reopen their doors this month, I want to urge Illinois motorists to be on the alert for children crossing streets and boarding school buses.

Sadly, after a three-year national decline in fatalities that occurred in school bus loading zones, there was a spike last year in the number of students killed boarding or exiting their school buses. While national fatality rates dropped from 20 in 2006 to just five in 2008, the number of school bus loading zone deaths jumped to 17 in 2009.

Our View: Making the decision to be a hero

August 8, 2010

All stories about organ donation are heart-rending, but we can’t remember being so touched as when a single mother who lost her only child talked about what she would do when she met the recipient of her son’s donated heart.

“I think I just want to lay my head on his chest and hear it beating again,” Patty Duerkop of Eau Claire, Wis., said. Her son’s donated heart beats in former Rockford businessman Gary Robb. Robb, 70, received a transplant in April 2009 because of congestive heart failure. Andrew Duerkop, 16, was killed riding his bike across a busy Eau Claire street. The mother and Robb met last month.

Jesse White honors woman for organ donation efforts

August 5, 2010

ROCKFORD — Bobbi Smith knows about organ and tissue donation. She learned the hard way.

Smith, nurse manager of Rockford Memorial Hospital’s Child Development and Behavior Department, lost granddaughters who were waiting for liver transplants in 1993 and 1994. When their youngest daughter, Carrie, died in 2002, she and her husband, Charles, donated her corneas and later started the Red Shoe Run to further encourage organ donations.

Smith said those experiences made organ donation her passion.

White visits to promote organ donor program

July 23, 2010

MARION — The state of Illinois has more heroes, millions of them, than any other state — and the number is growing.

Stopping at Rent One Park in Marion to promote the Illinois’ Organ and Tissue Donor Program, Secretary of State Jesse White said Illinois leads the nation in organ and tissue donation with 5.3 million registered donors.

White applauds SBLHC for organ donation efforts

July 22, 2010

MATTOON - Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White recognized Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center Wednesday for its "level of commitment" to organ donations.

White also used his office's role as administrator of the state's organ donor program to encourage people to register as donors. He mentioned several statistics, including how an average of 300 people die every year waiting for an organ transplant.

"One person can provide quality of life for 25 individuals," White said. "When you can give someone a second chance at life, you qualify as a hero."

Kane County Fair opens to warm weather, excited patrons

July 15, 2010

It was the perfect atmosphere Wednesday to be in Kane County, as the 142nd Kane County Fair and Festival opened its gates to the many patrons who eagerly awaited the annual tradition.

Cooperating weather, low attendance at the beginning of the festival, a special $2 admission for ages five and up, and an appearance by Secretary of State Jesse White helped give the remaining four days a great outlook, according to fair president Larry Breon.

'A second chance at life' for twins, others on the transplant list

April 2, 2010

BY MONIFA THOMAS Staff Reporter

Identical twins Luke and Jake Swanson of Arlington Heights have the same big blue eyes and fine blond hair, though Jake wears his curly.

Unfortunately, the 17-month-olds also share a potentially fatal liver disorder.

They're thought to be the first twins in North America to be diagnosed with biliary atresia, which blocks the ducts that carry bile from the liver to the gallbladder.

The disorder, which occurs in one out of every 10,000 to 20,000 births, is not thought to be genetic.

Cheers & Jeers

October 23, 2009

CHEERS to all who backed Illinois graduated driver licensing. Secretary of State Jesse White used National Teen Driver Safety Week to announce that teen driving deaths dropped by more than 50 percent since the law took effect in 2008. Those stricter laws grew out of the Teen Driver Safety Task Force formed in 2006. Among them were increasing driving experience, limiting in-car distractions including number of passengers and cell-phone use and requiring teens to earn their way from one stage to the next by avoiding traffic convictions.

OPINION: The culture Illinois needs

August 8, 2009

Jim Burns, the inspector general for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, visited the newspaper this week to tell us that he really didn't have much to tell us. It was great news.

In the past nine years since Burns' arrival, the office that was a scandal-plagued, corrupt mess under former Gov. George Ryan has cleaned up its act. It adopted an attitude of zero tolerance for corruption. And it did it while the pay-for-play culture of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich swirled in Springfield, no small feat.

Gov. Pat Quinn set to sign ban on texting while driving

August 6, 2009

By Monique Garcia Tribune reporter

Gov. Pat Quinn on Thursday is scheduled to sign into law a measure barring motorists from sending text messages while driving.

Illinois would join 14 other states and Washington in prohibiting the practice, which safety advocates say is dangerous and leads to crashes. The law would allow police to stop and ticket motorists for sending text messages, downloading ring tones or surfing the Internet on their mobile phones. It would take effect Jan. 1.

Press Releases

Secretary of State Jesse White Endorsed for Re-Election by the Illinois Education Association

August 9, 2010

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has been endorsed by the Illinois Education Association (IEA) for re-election in the upcoming November general election.

"It's an honor to receive this important endorsement from the Illinois Education Association," White said. "I'm proud that they recognize our efforts to improve this office."

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White Endorsed for Re-Election by the Illinois AFL-CIO

July 22, 2010

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has been endorsed by the Illinois AFL-CIO for re-election in 2010.

"This is a significant endorsement because the AFL-CIO represents 1,500 local unions and over one million working men and women in Illinois," White said. "Their support and trust is very important to our campaign, and to me personally."

Emergency Contact Database

April 30, 2010

The Illinois Secretary of State's office established the Emergency Contact Database on July 1, 2009. The database allows Illinois' driver's licence and ID cardholders to enter emergency contact information into a voluntary, secure database.