New Governor Fires Last-Minute Blagojevich Appointee Kurt Granberg

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has fired the state's conservation chief just weeks after he started work.

Former state Rep. Kurt Granberg took over the Department of Natural Resources Jan. 22 after former Gov. Rod Blagojevich appointed him a week earlier.

But Quinn told The Associated Press want the beleaguered agency's head to be another in a "parade of political appointments."

Quinn spokesman Bob Reed says the governor withdrew Blagojevich's nomination of Granberg on Wednesday. The Senate had yet to confirm it.

Granberg is a 55-year-old Democrat from Carlyle who spent 22 years in the General Assembly advocating for environmental and conservation issues.

Blagojevich was impeached for mismanagement and removed from office last week.