*** 2:28 pm *** The essential repeal of last year’s law to require a moment of silence in schools passed the House today 72-31 with 6 abstentions.

The sponsor, Rep. John Fritchey, does not consider the bill to be a full repeal, but his legislation changes the statute back from schools “shall” have a moment of silence to “may” - where it was before the General Assembly changed it last year. That bill was vetoed by Gov. Blagojevich and then overridden in both changes. The title of the statute was also changed from the Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act to the Student Silent Reflection Act. A federal judge has been holding up last year’s law until its constitutionality can be determined.

Its fate in the Senate is uncertain.

* 2:38 pm - Mayor Daley dumped on the idea of relaxing landmark restrictions at Wrigley Field today, but didn’t flatly come out against it…

Without flatly ruling out easing landmark restrictions to make way for a Wrigley rehab, Daley said the park is “historical” and added that its special status came a few years ago because “people wanted it.”

“There were concessions on both sides, both the city…and the Chicago Tribune,” the mayor said. “All of a sudden they want to change that…Why do they want to change it? What happened?”

* Daley also criticized the idea of razing NIU’s Cole Hall…

“You can’t tear every building down…Unfortunately, there have been a number of killings — both in and around high schools or elementary schools” as well as colleges, Daley said.

“It wasn’t the building that did it. It was the opportunity of someone getting a gun in Illinois….The access is so easy. That’s what we should be looking at. We should be in Springfield putting $40 million into education. That’s different. Not into tearing a building down because someone was killed in there. If that takes place, that would be a terrible precedent for us to have in Illinois.”

* And Dick Kay is going back to broadcasting. Well, part-time…

Retired WMAQ-Ch. 5 political reporter Dick Kay will begin hosting a weekly, two-hour radio talk show starting Saturday at 2 p.m. on WCPT AM 820.

Kay, 71, retired in 2006 and last year worked briefly as Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s “special advocate for health care.”

*** 3:03 pm *** Is NIU’s president backing away from the Cole Hall demolition idea? Here’s his latest letter to the campus…

We now face the question of what to do with this facility in the future. Our answer should represent a consensus opinion formulated by all members of our campus community. We must decide whether to remove the building or keep it; to reopen it in its present form or change its purpose or configuration. Any decision carries emotional and financial costs. I have expressed my own view that we should decommission Cole Hall as a classroom building. I made that judgment after talking with scores of students, parents, faculty and alumni who told me they could not fathom returning to Cole Hall to teach or study. In the days that have followed that tragic event, different voices and opinions have emerged, and we must take in all those viewpoints before moving forward. In the spirit of shared governance, I pledge to do all I can to facilitate the expression of all opinions.

* 3:05 pm - As I told you below, Dem congressional candidate Bill Foster was planning to unveil a new TV ad today featuring Sen. Barack Obama. The ad debuts just days before Saturday’s special election against Jim Oberweis. Here it is…

* 3:08 pm - Is Illinois holding off a recession?

The University of Illinois flash economic index in February rose for the second straight month after six months of decline.

“It appears the recession hasn’t arrived in Illinois,” said economist J. Fred Giertz, who compiles the index for the UI’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs. […]

“We’re still moving along at a modest pace, but that doesn’t mean a recession in the state might not be around the corner,” Giertz said.

* 4:14 pm - Steve Stone is one of the smartest broadcasters in baseball, and he’s now with the White Sox…

A former American Major League Baseball player and current sportscaster, Steve Stone, signed Monday night a deal with the White Sox. He is now the team’s full-time radio color analyst for the 2008 season.