After Initial Confusion, He’s Hoping to Win With E’s

--Cutthroat Chicago politics has found its way to the suburbs, to the Nov. 3 Moraine Valley Community College trustees board race. The incumbent, James Smith, finds himself opposed by James Smith. The incumbent is now shaping his $4,000 campaign around his middle initial--”E”-- as in his new slogan, “E’s the One.” The challenger (“a sham candidate,” scoffed James E.), is a political novice. James without the E (or Just Plain), 59, is retired and filed for the office at the urging of his daughters, who thought he should have something to do. “Nobody has asked me to make a public appearance,” Just Plain said. “I’m not really into politics.” James E., 63, who appears at candidates forums, says trustee Chairman Burton Odelson is behind the candidacy of Just Plain. “He (Odelson) is deliberately creating ballot confusion,” said James E., a charge that Odelson disputes. “I have nothing to do with this,” Odelson said. James E. alleged that if Just Plain wins, “his first major problem would be to find the campus.” Not so, said Just Plain, “I’ve lived here 29 years. I ought to know where it is.” He added: “I hope we don’t split the vote.”

--Life on the U.S. Supreme Court is no bed of roses, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor indicated in a speech at the University of Denver. Her main topic was the 1787 Constitutional Convention, but she also described her typical day. She said she arrives at the court building at 7:30 a.m. and stays until 7:30 p.m. “When I go home, I usually take some reading material home with me,” O’Connor said. “And, like most of my colleagues, I work on weekends and holidays so time goes quickly.” During a court term, she said, she reads an average of 1,500 pages a day.

--The Grundy Community Hospice in Morris, Ill, is holding a fund-raising auction today and some donated textiles, figurines, Nativity scenes, prayer books, maps and jewelry boxes were donated by an unlikely source--PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. The hospice sent out 1,500 letters to international newsmakers asking for donations and, officials said, at the last minute decided to drop Arafat and Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi. “Arafat’s (letter) kind of slipped out before we could pull it out of the mailing,” said auction spokeswoman Monica Vogel. Another Middle East figure, King Hussein of Jordan, sent a royal wristwatch. Actor John Travolta sent an autographed pair of socks.