$1500 Birthday for Governor's Daughter

Tribune front page story "Feds probe gift to governor:Husband of woman hired by state wrote $1500 check to Blagojevich daughter" (She is 7):

The governor's office released a statement Friday saying the check was a gift for his daughter's 7th birthday from the governor's best friend and any suggestion otherwise is "simply ludicrous."

"It is an outrage that we even have to answer this question," the statement said.

The wife was hired to work for the DNR in Whiteside County (near the Iowa border) then transferred to Chicago metro DuPage a month later:

Ascaridis said she was not involved in any scheme to circumvent veterans preference laws. Asked if she ever worked in Whiteside County before her transfer to DuPage, she said: "I don't even know where Whiteside County is."

Simply criminal.