Someone’s been reading the Journal Star
It’s U.S. Sen. Barack Obama. After reading reporter Clare Howard’s series on lead poisoning, he took the following steps:
1. He contacted local officials.
2. He sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to find out why a grant application has been turned down three times (which is an emplaination I would like to hear).
3. Introduced legislation that would help defray the costs of lead abatement for some homeowners and landlords.
4. Introduced legislation that would ban children’s products containing lead, including lunch boxes, toys and Halloween costumes.
It has to feel good for Clare Howard to know that something she wrote might spur some positive change.
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
What about Elaine Hopkins
Absolutely! I forgot about her contribution to this series.
[...] A full 18 days after the Journal Star reported that U.S. Sen. Barack Obama was stepping up to help Peoria solve it’s lead poisoning problem, WMBD 1470 new reports that Congressman Ray LaHood is getting into the act with his own bill in the House of Representatives. Both would provide property owners tax credits for 30 percent of the costs of lead abatement, up to a total of $3,000. [...]