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| | HR0510 | | LRB104 15850 MST 29063 r |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of |
| 3 | | Representatives wish to congratulate Ray Long on the occasion |
| 4 | | of his retirement after dedicating more than 40 years to |
| 5 | | covering Illinois politics as an investigative journalist; and
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| 6 | | WHEREAS, Ray Long received his bachelor's degree and |
| 7 | | master's degree from Sangamon State University, now known as |
| 8 | | the University of Illinois Springfield; and
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| 9 | | WHEREAS, Ray Long, a Winchester native, started his career |
| 10 | | as a reporter for the Peoria Journal Star in 1981, where he |
| 11 | | began covering Illinois politics, and later worked for the |
| 12 | | Chicago Sun-Times beginning in 1990 and the Associated Press |
| 13 | | beginning in 1995, before joining the Chicago Tribune in 1998 |
| 14 | | as its Springfield correspondent; and
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| 15 | | WHEREAS, Ray Long covered Illinois Speaker of the House |
| 16 | | Michael J. Madigan's career for decades; in 2022, he published |
| 17 | | his book, The House That Madigan Built, which chronicles the |
| 18 | | former house speaker's rise and fall and provides an inside |
| 19 | | look into Illinois's complex political history; he provided |
| 20 | | extensive news coverage of Madigan's federal trial, offering |
| 21 | | insight and analysis throughout the 12 weeks it unfolded; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Ray Long covered many significant moments in |
| 2 | | Illinois history, including the impeachment of Gov. Rod |
| 3 | | Blagojevich, the beginning of President Barack Obama's run for |
| 4 | | the presidency, and many budget impasses; he also covered |
| 5 | | Chicago news for decades, including numerous mayoral |
| 6 | | administrations and hundreds of city and county hall meetings; |
| 7 | | and
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| 8 | | WHEREAS, Ray Long is a founding member of Capitolbeat, a |
| 9 | | national organization dedicated to promoting excellence in |
| 10 | | coverage of state government, for which he authored a chapter |
| 11 | | in a book on investigative reporting, A Guide to Statehouse |
| 12 | | Reporting; and
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| 13 | | WHEREAS, Ray Long has received numerous accolades, |
| 14 | | including being selected as Journalist of the Year, being |
| 15 | | inducted into the UIS Bill Miller Public Affairs Reporting |
| 16 | | Hall of Fame in 2008, and being a Pulitzer Prize finalist in |
| 17 | | 2017 and 2018; and
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| 18 | | WHEREAS, Ray Long encourages his fellow reporters to serve |
| 19 | | the public by acting as watchdogs and exposing what he |
| 20 | | described as a culture of corruption in Illinois politics; |
| 21 | | therefore, be it
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| 22 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE |
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| | HR0510 | - 3 - | LRB104 15850 MST 29063 r |
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| 1 | | HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that |
| 2 | | we congratulate Ray Long on his retirement after dedicating |
| 3 | | more than 40 years to covering Illinois politics as an |
| 4 | | investigative journalist, and we thank him for his service to |
| 5 | | our community; and be it further
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| 6 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
| 7 | | presented to Ray Long as a symbol of our respect and esteem. |
