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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| 22 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
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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 | ||||||
| 6 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 7 | presented to Ray Long as a symbol of our respect and esteem. | ||||||