Did gov skip parade of hecklers?

SPRINGFIELD -- Gov. Blagojevich skipped the traditional evening parade that opened the Illinois State Fair on Thursday, likely sparing himself from being pilloried along the way by angry residents of the capital city.

Blagojevich is unpopular around the state but perhaps nowhere more so than in Sangamon County, where he has decided to uproot 140 Springfield area families by moving their state transportation jobs into deep southern Illinois.

Scores of other state workers, unaccustomed to having their livelihoods threatened, are fearful of layoffs or furloughs as a result of his $1.4 billion in state budget cuts.

The governor's camp said his schedule did not permit marching in the Springfield parade. He had a press conference in Chicago on Thursday and spent the rest of the day "working with the legislative leaders" regarding a two-day special legislative session he called for next week and a scaled-back state construction program he wants considered then, Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero said.

The governor will attend a ribbon-cutting at the state fairgrounds today, Guerrero said.

Rep. Raymond Poe (R-Springfield) said it's obvious the publicity-conscious governor was fearful of being heckled or booed along the parade route.

"I just don't think he'd have been well-accepted at all," Poe said. "... When you treat a county like he has treated Sangamon County, it's pretty hard to get any respect."