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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives wish to congratulate Robert "Bob" A. Runnels | ||||||
| 4 | Sr. on his retirement from serving as alderman of the 6th | ||||||
| 5 | district of the City of North Chicago; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, Robert Runnels, retired Navy journalist and | ||||||
| 7 | former TV news reporter and photographer, received most of his | ||||||
| 8 | journalism training while serving in the Navy; he attended | ||||||
| 9 | various Navy schools, including the Navy's Class "B" School | ||||||
| 10 | (Advanced Course) at Great Lakes and the University of | ||||||
| 11 | Nebraska at Omaha; in 1968, he served a tour of duty for the | ||||||
| 12 | Navy in the Republic of South Vietnam; and
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| 13 | WHEREAS, While in the Navy, Robert Runnels was involved in | ||||||
| 14 | writing news releases, news photography, radio, and | ||||||
| 15 | television; he was editor and sports editor of several Navy | ||||||
| 16 | command newspapers; he is considered the "last uniformed | ||||||
| 17 | military editor of the Great Lakes Bulletin," which is the | ||||||
| 18 | base newspaper at the Great Lakes Naval Station;
he was a force | ||||||
| 19 | historian journalist from 1968 to 1969; he assisted Navy | ||||||
| 20 | officer historians and also wrote documents recording the Navy | ||||||
| 21 | and Marine Corps roles in South Vietnam in 1968 and 1969; and | ||||||
| 22 | WHEREAS, After 20 years of U.S. Naval service, Robert | ||||||
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| 1 | Runnels
joined the KMTV news staff in Omaha, Nebraska in 1971;
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| 2 | at KMTV, he was a general and beat assignment | ||||||
| 3 | reporter-photographer and hosted a weekly community affairs TV | ||||||
| 4 | talk show entitled "Expressions"; he left KMTV in 1983 and | ||||||
| 5 | moved to Washington State in October of 1984; he remained | ||||||
| 6 | semi-retired except for a nearly 10-year stint as a journalism | ||||||
| 7 | instructor at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, | ||||||
| 8 | Washington; and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, Robert Runnels is a three-term alderman of the | ||||||
| 10 | 6th Ward of the City of North Chicago, Illinois; and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, Robert Runnels was inducted into the Omaha Press | ||||||
| 12 | Club Journalism of Excellence Hall of Fame on June 5, 2018; he | ||||||
| 13 | was the recipient of the Most Influential African American in | ||||||
| 14 | Lake County, Illinois Lifetime Achievement Award; and
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| 15 | WHEREAS, Robert Runnels has been very active in community | ||||||
| 16 | affairs; he was a board member of the Greater Omaha Girl Scout | ||||||
| 17 | Council while in Omaha and served on the board of the | ||||||
| 18 | Mid-Columbia Girl Scout Council in Washington State, earning | ||||||
| 19 | him a 25-year Girl Scouts pin and certificate; he has served as | ||||||
| 20 | a Big Brother and a YMCA (Omaha) Camping Committeeman;
he was a | ||||||
| 21 | North Chicago Library Board Trustee from 2009 to 2021;
he is a | ||||||
| 22 | Foundation Board Member of the National Museum of the American | ||||||
| 23 | Sailor; and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, Currently, Robert Runnels is a member of the | ||||||
| 2 | Veterans of Foreign Wars (Lifetime Member), American Legion | ||||||
| 3 | Post #397(North Chicago), Little Fort Elks Lodge #1359 (North | ||||||
| 4 | Chicago), the PGA Tour Partners Club (Lifetime Member), and | ||||||
| 5 | the United States Golf Association (USGA); therefore, be it
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| 6 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 7 | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 8 | we congratulate Robert "Bob" A. Runnels Sr. on his retirement | ||||||
| 9 | from serving as alderman of the 6th ward of the City of North | ||||||
| 10 | Chicago; and be it further
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| 11 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 12 | presented to Robert Runnels as a symbol of our esteem and | ||||||
| 13 | respect.
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