Two-time presidential candidate John Edwards was disgraced recently after addmiting to an extramarital affair.

The Associated Press reported this week that Edwards will speak at the University of Illinois Oct. 14. It won’t cost anything to hear him, but he’s being paid $65,000.

A college spokesman said Edwards was given a chance to back out of the engagement after admitting he had an affair with a filmmaker hired by his political action committee during his most recent bid for the presidency.

Instead, the U of I was told Edwards is actually increasing his public speaking jobs, and his fee has gone up.

Ironcially, Edwards plans to speak about "The American Dream."

No kidding.

A few other notes from Tuesday’s community meeting at Redmon and Lee ….

• Rev. James Hailey ran the first meeting in July but wasn’t at Tuesday’s meeting, which was directed by Rev. Orville Jones.

• Several residents asked about putting a speed bump on Lind near Ninth to slow traffic. Quincy Mayor John Spring said there wasn’t a quorum at the August Traffic Commission meeting, but he hopes enough members present will be next month to address the issue.

• There was talk about a report of a police officer seeing a drug transaction in the area but not doing anything about it. Quincy Police Chief Rob Copley said it’s possible the officer didn’t see the transaction when a citizen did. "I find it hard to believe an officer wouldn’t take action (if he or she saw the drug transaction)," Copley said.

• Dennis Williams of the Quincy Human Rights Commission said his group would be willing to help citizens with issues.

• Elaine Davis, who coordinates the Quincy Housing Initiative to help people buy homes, was praised by Spring for her help in getting homeowners into the area. "We want to make this a beautiful neighborhood," Davis said.

• The best part of the meeting came toward the end. Several citizens complained police weren’t doing anything when fights broke out in the neighborhood, and a man who didn’t identify himself urged the city to deal with "the scourge" of drugs and alcohol. Jones responded by saying much of the responsibility should be at the home with parents, which brought a rousing response. "Then you need to street preach to them (youth) out there," said the man, pointing to the street outside. "I do," Jones said. "Believe me, I do."

I filled up my gas tank this morning in West Quincy for $3.47 a gallon. You know it’s bad when I actually thought that was a good price.

Compared to earlier this summer? Yes. Overall? No.

Gas up now, Q-town, because you know the price will get raised with Labor Day weekend looming.

I gotta get a scooter.

The Amethyst Initiative wants discussion about lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18. A resolution supporting debate about the serious issue of student binge drinking was recently signed by 100 college presidents. (I’ll have a column in Saturday’s Herald-Whig addressing the issue.)

JWCC President Tom Klincar

John Wood Community College doesn’t deal with the drinking issues like four-year schools such as Quincy University, Culver-Stockton College and Hannibal-LaGrange College do. However, new JWCC President Tom Klincar does have some interesting thoughts, especially from an ex-Air Force Colonel who served overseas.

"It’s about deglamorizing alcohol," Klincar said. "It goes well beyond a drinking age and substance abuse issue."

In Europe, drinking wine with a meal is considered part of life, like waking up or going to work. The drinking age is lower simply because it’s not considered such a big deal.

Combating underage drinking in the United States requires, in Klincar’s opinion, "a change in American culture. And I don’t think we can get there. We are still reeling from Prohibition."

Perhaps the drastic measure of establishing one age limit for drinking, voting and serving in the military should be taken. Make it one age, whether it’s 18, 19, 21.

There would be a lot of pain and learning in the process, Klincar says, "but 100 years from now, we would serve those who follow us well."

Japan’s Eri Yamada celebrates winning
the softball gold medal after beating
the USA 3-1 in the Beijing Olympics. (AP Photo)

I woke up early this morning and watched the U.S. Olympic softball team lose the gold medal game to Japan in a huge upset.

It was riveting stuff. Slugger Crystl Bustos hit a fourth-inning homer to the opposite field and the U.S. threatened in the later innings, but couldn’t score.

Watching the Japanese cower when Bustos came to the plate in the sixth inning was priceless. Even though she was the go-ahead run, Japan intentionally walked her, and pitcher Yukiko Ueno got out of a bases-loaded jam.

You never like to lose, and the U.S. hadn’t lost in 22 straight Olympic games. They were the better team and hit screamer after screamer off Ueno, but the Japanese made the plays and stood tall on the podium, and that’s all that counts.

No prima donnas failing to run out ground balls, no $20 million spoiled brats demanding trades, no attitudes or issues … just hard competition in the spirit of the Games.

As it’s meant to be!

Tyler Busse and five of his friends went water skiing Monday night, then afterward decided to fish in the east chute of the Quincy Bay area.

The group noticed several fish jumping in the water. A girl in the boat said she was scared of fish, and they started talking about fish jumping into boats.

Lo and behold, a massive fish jumped into the boat and nearly landed in her lap.

Busse and his friends managed to subdue the fish and got a photo, shown at left, with a camera phone. Proud as could be, they put it on a metal stringer. Imagine the fish story they could tell with this beauty as proof!

Alas, the stringer broke off the boat when the fish was thrown back in the water.

So all they have of this fishy tale is a photograph.

China’s gymnast He Wenna performs
during the women’s trampoline finals
on Monday. He Wenna won the gold medal.

The Olympics offer sports we don’t get to see on TV all the time, and some of them are really cool.

The trampoline event is amazing. These athletes soar into the air and flip, twist and bend all over the place. This isn’t your backyard trampoline, that’s for sure.

Track and field is a huge world sport, but it really doesn’t get much love here in the United States. It takes a grand stage like the Olympics to find out who is the fastest man and woman in the world, and I like the buildup before the races.

Also, I like the handball and water polo events, different sports you just don’t see.

Do you have a favorite?

What will it take to get Freddie Tieken and the Rockers to play another show in Quincy?

Tieken, now retired and living in Phoenix, is a Quincy legend when it comes to rock and roll. Tieken’s bands played thousands of gigs from the dawn of rock and roll through the heavier 1970s music of ILMO Smokehouse.

Tieken has always resisted reunion efforts, saying he can’t play his sax anymore. He says it was stolen a few years ago from a storage company, and his lack of playing means he doesn’t have the chops.

But there are Rockers still around. Jim Vandament played drums. Jack Inghram was on sax and keyboards and still plays regularly in town. Jack says Vernie Robbins (vocals and keyboards) is still in Quincy, too. Jack also has a spare sax.

If we need help, I’m sure the Legend of Meyer, Dennis Tieken, would pitch in. Need guitar and bass players? Taken care of. I know some guys in a disreputable band called The Funions who would be glad to pitch in.

Get a major sponsor and have the benefit at Turner Hall and give proceeds, after expenses, to a charity. Or, just for kicks, let’s see if the Traeders will let us use the kart track across the river, just like more than 40 years ago when Freddie Tieken and the Rockers were all the rage.

I’ll take care of the details. All the band has to do is get together a few times to practice.

C’mon, Fred. One more time, a blast from the past that will make everybody in Quincy feel good!

The never-ending saga of murderer Michael Swango took another twist this week when State’s Attorney Jon Barnard agreed with a request from the FBI to not seek the death penalty if any future county cases are filed against Swango.

The FBI thinks Swango will talk to them about other murders he may have committed. He’s in prison for the rest of his life and likely has nothing to lose, unless the death penalty comes up.

In Illinois, the death penalty issue is moot
anyway. Unless the political climate changes drastically in the next few years (and that’s possible), the state moratorium will remain in place.

I received a call from a man in Georgia who suspects Swango is guilty of more Adams County offenses. After talking this week to various investigators and authorities who were around in the 1980s when Swango lived in Quincy, it appears doubtful he killed anybody else.

But you never know.

If Swango talks, what will he say? He’s suspected of killing between 30 and 60 people.

Perhaps it would help families put years of doubt to rest, give the FBI an idea about what makes such an evil person tick, and shed new light on old cases.

Judy Abbott is many things — fearless, blunt, honest, a tireless worker and advocate for the juvenile justice system.

Abbott announced Wednesday she is leaving the Adams County State’s Attorney’s office to teach at Culver-Stockton College. Her boss, Jon Barnard, said his loss is Culver’s gain.

Abbott didn’t like media attention and preferred to run under the radar. That suited her perfectly in juvenile court, where names of underage offenders are kept from being published.

But she never shied way from tough cases or answering tough questions when juvenile cases were newsworthy.

A few months ago, a defense attorney for a juvenile client became irate when a reporter entered the courtroom. By law, media members are allowed to attend juvenile proceedings, but this attorney didn’t know the law and put on quite a show for his client and client’s family, bellowing that the reporter should be removed.

After the judge listened to the attorney at the beginning of the hearing, he asked Abbott what she thought.

"Your honor," Abbott said, "(he) has the right to be here."

That was it. No grandstanding, no theatrics, no responding to childish antics from the defense attorney. The judge agreed, shot down the defense attorney’s motion to have the reporter removed, and the hearing continued.

Abbott will be missed. She is engaging and passionate about the law. She believed in what she was doing and has a deadly sense of humor, an important trait doing the most thankless and daunting of jobs.