* For whatever reason. the Sun-Times focuses today’s “Daley’s 1,000 layoffs” story on possibly reduced garbage pickups, which if you scroll down in the piece probably won’t happn anywayl.

Here’s the more important item…

The 3,000 vacancies to be eliminated include: 329 sworn Chicago Police officers; 424 non-sworn police employees; 12 sworn firefighters, and 10 non-sworn fire employees.

* The Tribune has been all over the problems associated with the problem of current police vacancies…

With retirements, firings and resignations, the department is down 250 officers and could be down more than 400 officers by the end of the year, said Mark Donahue, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, the union representing patrol officers. The department has lost about 375 officers and hired only 125 since the beginning of the year, Donahue said.

* On Saturday the mayor said he was working to hire more Chicago cops.

Apparently, hizzoner’s statement is now inoperative.

* Chicago is facing a $420 million budget hole, but…

The 1,000 layoffs are expected to save $100 million.

* There could be a whole lot more pain on the way, but stuff like this has to irritate Chicago police officers…

A battle is brewing over a request by CTA President Ron Huberman to change his pension status. Huberman is a former Chicago police officer. He has angered other officers with a new application for police pension benefits.

* This ain’t helping relations much, either…

A Chicago police detective who was beaten while off-duty on Chicago’s North Side over a week ago is reacting to the news that the man accused of beating him will not face a more serious charge. […]

Detective Amato and others believe the charges should be more serious because the attack was against a police officer. The police officer’s alleged attacker, 27-year-old John Jasas remains free after attending court last week, where a judge refused to charge him with attacking a police officer. That follows a decision by the state’s attorney’s office to file what is “perceived” as a lesser felony because, they say, Detective Amato was off duty. The veteran cop counters, saying a Chicago police officer is “always” on duty.

Beaten Chicago Police Detective Steve Amato left court feeling assaulted all over again. Not only was the man accused of attacking him not charged with battering a police officer, but the hearing the 18-year police department veteran was told to attend Monday morning took place last week without him or his testimony.

* Meanwhile, Chicago Public Radio has a story about a toxic chemical saturating Chicago’s air…

The University of Iowa professor looked at air samples from all over Chicago, and found the chemical in about 90 percent of them. She says the source is a mystery. It looks a lot like a byproduct of paints, but it’s not concentrated near, say, paint factories.

HORNBUCKLE: It’s so ubiquitous that I almost wonder if it’s released from paint after the paint is applied to buildings and streets and walls. I don’t know.

PCBs have been linked to cancer and neurological problems. The government banned manufacture of PCBs, but Hornbuckle says PCB-11 isn’t manufactured. That means the ban may not apply.

* Background…

Historically, PCB11 is one of 209 compounds manufactured between the late 1920s and the 1970s. The report noted that they were primarily marketed as mixtures called Aroclors by chemical companies until U.S. production ceased in the late 1970s. The distribution of PCB11 throughout residential areas of Chicago suggests that the compound is a past or current component of consumer paint products.

* Health effects…

Health Effects related to pcb-11: Birth or developmental effects, Brain and nervous system, Cancer, Endocrine system, Immune system (including sensitization and allergies), Persistent and bioaccumulative, Reproduction and fertility