* Bishop remained silent about 25 abusive priests

The former No. 2 official of the Catholic church in Chicago admitted that he knew 25 priests broke the law by sexually abusing children but did not report them, according to depositions made public Tuesday.

Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Raymond E. Goedert’s statements show “the lengths they went to to protect their reputation and the priest at the peril of the child,” said attorney Jeff Anderson, who represents men who have sued the archdiocese over alleged childhood molestation.

“I knew the civil law considered it a crime,” Goedert said in the deposition. “But I’m not a civil lawyer. I think we just relied on — a lot on our — we knew it was wrong, what was done. And we used our common sense and prudence with the help of people — expert in the field to assist us in resolving these cases.”

Goedert, the past president of the national Canon Law (Catholic Church law) Society, said families of the victims were not seeking to get the police involved and have the priests criminally charged — they simply wanted to prevent any other children from being victimized. So while now the church calls police when it learns of credible allegations of abuse, in those days –the ’70s and mid-80s — it did not.

* Archdiocese paying $3.9 million to sexually abused

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago has agreed to pay $3.9 million to six survivors of sexual abuse by priests.

In announcing the settlement Tuesday, the archdiocese also released a bishop’s deposition that detailed the church’s failure to report the crimes and attempts to keep them secret.

The 180-page deposition was prepared by retired Auxiliary Bishop Raymond Goedert, the second highest ranking bishop in the archdiocese.

* Blagojevich case up for hearing in federal court

Blagojevich himself isn’t expected to be on hand and fireworks aren’t expected at the hearing Wednesday before U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel.

But the hearing will give attorneys a chance to air any concerns and take care of any housekeeping chores.

* Tech S.O.S. The Blago beat . . .

• • Translation: Sneed is told legal briefs filed by the feds in the “Pay to Play” Blagojevich probe “number a million documents and 3½ million pages . . . all on discs, of course,” according to Blago attorney Sheldon Sorosky.

• • The upshot: “It’s overwhelming. We are going to ask the judge for a computer program to help digest it all,” said Sorosky, who will appear at a hearing before Judge Zagel today.

* Cicero’s boards are a family business

Two years ago, Richard Dominick recalls, he received a tempting offer from his brother, Cicero Town President Larry Dominick.

“We were just talking and he said, ‘How would you like to sit on a town board, get full health insurance and make a thousand bucks a month?’ ” Richard Dominick said. “I told him, ‘Do you think I’m nuts? Yeah, I’ll take that.’ “

A Tribune investigation has revealed that 121 appointed board and commission members in Cicero are paid salaries — at a cost to taxpayers of about $1 million annually — and are offered health and dental insurance benefits for themselves and their families.

Though many towns pay their elected leaders and a few pay advisory panel members who serve exceedingly long hours, the distinction for Cicero is the size of the circle of compensation and the fact that it includes several relatives of Larry Dominick, who in his 2005 campaign promised to change the town’s history of nepotism.

* Former Melrose Park police supervisor signed in at work, then hit casinos

* Inmate claiming Burge torture seeks to be freed

Over three days in police custody, Michael Tillman was beaten with a phone book, punched in the face and stomach until he vomited blood, had a plastic bag put over his head and 7 Up poured into his nose in a crude form of waterboarding, a court petition says.

Tillman, then 20, the father of a 3-year-old daughter and infant son, confessed to a crime he never committed after hours of torture under former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge’s officers, his attorneys say.

Now 43, Tillman was arrested on July 22, 1986, in the murder of Howard, whose body was found in a building where Tillman lived with his girlfriend and was the janitor. He was convicted on Dec. 18, 1986, — absent any physical evidence and based solely on his confession — according to the petition filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

* South Chicagoans demand faster police responses

The Police Committee took no action on the proposal by Ald. Sandi Jackson (7th) that would have mandated the temporary re-deployment of officers to her far South Side ward and other high-crime areas.

But, the message from South Chicago residents was delivered loud and clear.

“You hear shooting from 96th and Calhoun to 102nd and Calhoun. It’s back-and-forth, back-and-forth. You call the police. There’s a [squadrol] two blocks away just sitting there. Thirty minutes later, the police come. It’s too late. Everybody [has] scattered. The crime has taken place,” said Pastor Amos Bradford.

* Recent grads weigh options as employment proves elusive

According to a spring survey by the Pennsylvania-based National Association of Colleges and Employers, just 19.7 percent of 2009 graduates who applied for a job actually had one by graduation. In comparison, 51 percent of those graduating in 2007 and 26 percent of those graduating in 2008 who had applied for a job had one in hand by the time of graduation.

“When looking at overall unemployment being close to 10 percent, obviously that’s going to affect new college graduates,” said Mimi Collins, spokesperson for NACE.

“About 26 percent of the graduating class (of 2009) said they plan to go to graduate or professional school,” Collins said. “That is up from what we’ve seen in recent years.”

* America’s biggest wine region? That would be the Midwest, thank you

Quick, what’s America’s biggest wine region? If you answered California’s Napa Valley, you’re way, way off thanks to a federal ruling that creates a new one starting Wednesday.

It’s the Upper Mississippi River Valley, covering a whopping 29,914 square miles and encompassing portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa. That’s 39 times the Napa Valley’s puny 759 or so square miles.

The new region is huge news for midwestern vintners.

“I’m really excited about it,” says Paul Tabor, of Tabor Home Vineyards Winery about 40 miles south of Dubuque. “Wine enthusiasts really do look at the labels for an appellation and now we can use that as part of our marketing story.”

* Home Depot sued by Ill. workers

The lawsuit filed on Tuesday in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, seeks class-action status.

The complaint accuses Home Depot deliberately misclassifying the plaintiffs as “exempt” from overtime, which is paid to workers after 40 hours per week.

Home Depot did not return a call seeking comment.

The three plaintiffs said in the lawsuit that they were unlawfully deprived of wages when Home Depot required them to work at least 55 hours per week and they were not paid time and a half for time over 40 hours.

* Internet sports sites, newspapers going in different directions

* Boeing’s profit beats estimates

Boeing Co. said Wednesday its second-quarter earnings rose 17 percent from a year earlier, when a charge weighed down results. Higher defense sales and lower costs bolstered the company’s profit in the latest period.

Boeing, the world’s second-largest commercial plane maker, said it earned $998 million, or $1.41 per share, for the three months ended June 30. That compares with $852 million, or $1.16 per share, during the same period last year, which included a charge of 22 cents per share for late delivery of military aircraft.

* Daley answers critics of Chicago 2016 Olympic bid

Mayor Daley today accused unidentified media naysayers of trying to sandbag Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid by reporting testimony from people at neighborhood hearings who don’t want the Olympics.

“You’re against it. You were against Millennium Park. You were against 911. You were against Soldiers Field. You were against Meigs Field. What else were you against? You’re against a lot. But, that’s freedom of speech,” Daley said.

“Some people don’t want this. … That’s part of American democracy. They can stand up and say anything they want. … But, in the next five years, six years, tell me one [other] thing that can bring jobs and economic opportunities and, besides that, guarantee an investment by the federal government [of] billions of dollars in infrastructure. If you have something better, I’d love to see it.”

* End Wal-Mart mystery delay, OK Chatham site

It revolves around the City Council Rules Committee, which is where an ordinance to allow for a long-awaited Wal-Mart in Chatham sits.

The chair of that committee, Ald. Dick Mell (33rd), apparently told Wal-Mart officials and the alderman pushing for the Wal-Mart, Howard Brookins (21st), that the Rules Committee would consider the Wal-Mart ordinance in July.

Well, time is running out — and no one seems to be able to get an answer from Mell, this page included.

The last chance for a Rules Committee vote is July 28, the day before the full City Council’s July meeting. Notice for a rules meeting must go up no later than Friday.

* Peoria County rejects union borrowing plan

Borrowing money only will delay difficult decisions Peoria County must make to mitigate an anticipated budget deficit of about $4 million this year.

So county officials Tuesday shot down a union proposal that the county borrow money at zero interest from the robust health insurance fund in lieu of reducing premiums by about 20 percent a month per employee. In efforts to avoid future layoffs, consideration is being given to wage freezes, unpaid holidays and mandatory furlough days in addition to a hiring freeze and voluntary separation package.

* Chicago Housing Authority Seeks to Earn Money By Giving Out Advice

The Chicago Housing Authority is positioning itself to bring in new outside revenue – by doling out advice to other housing agencies.

* Plan aims to bring wireless Internet to poor neighborhoods

Two years after pulling the plug on an $18.5 million wireless Internet access system that would have reached into Chicago’s poorest communities, Mayor Daley today unveiled a far less ambitious plan to bridge the “digital divide.”

The mayor declared four impoverished neighborhoods — Englewood, Auburn Gresham, Chicago Lawn and Pilsen — “digital excellence demonstration communities” that will be flooded with technology to demonstrate the internet’s “transformative power.”

Microsoft has agreed to donate $1.1 million worth of software to help 28 non-profit organizations in those neighborhoods. Another $2 million from Microsoft, the MacArthur Foundation, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and the state will help bring internet access to schools and public spaces in those disconnected neighborhoods.

* Experts agree: Cell phones, driving don’t mix

* Don’t cry for Sears Tower, Chicago

These are the tough questions that economic historians will grapple with for centuries. But the real issue is why Chicago, once teeming with corporate headquarters, is no longer a city of major names.

A number of brand icons have been acquired or have left Chicago: Sara Lee, Quaker Oats, Amoco, Waste Management, Continental Bank, Marshall Field’s, First Chicago and Sears come to mind. Texas now leads the nation in corporate headquarters of the Fortune 1000

* Don’t expect name change for John Hancock Center

The speculation can cease. Two executives at Golub & Co., the managing partner of the group that owns the building’s commercial portions, say there is no name sale in the works. “We have no intentions of doing anything,” said Executive Vice President Lee Golub. “We haven’t even thought about that.”

* Tower’s name not fully seared into our minds

Whatever you call it, sights from Willis ledge are captivating

* Wind farm helps push Illinois toward milestone

Once those turbines begin churning - producing 100.5 megawatts of electricity per year, enough to power 30,000 homes - the state will mark a green milestone.

With Rail Splitter, Illinois will produce more than 1,000 megawatts of wind energy annually, pushing it further into the top 10 of wind-energy producing states.

Illinois currently ranks 10th in the nation with 915 megawatts of wind energy production per year, according to the American Wind Energy Association. Rail Splitter and two other projects are under construction or just completed.

“I think (Rail Splitter) actually puts the state just over 1,100 megawatts annually,” Whitlock said. “It’s very gratifying to be here leading this project. It’s the culmination of a lot of hard work by a lot of different people.”

* Going net zero — for effect

1st-of-its-kind home in Chicago will produce as much energy as it uses

* Get spit on by whale: $200

Sheppard spent a half hour Tuesday in a new 90,000-gallon tank created in the recent remodeling of the Shedd’s Oceanarium. The 16-foot-deep tank has an area where trainers and participants can walk waist deep in the water, allowing whales to swim within inches of them.

The encounters cost $200 and include an additional hour meeting with trainers and learning about the whales. Shedd officials said the encounter program is one of only two offered in the United States.

* Concussions more likely for high school players

High school football players sustain greater head accelerations after impact during play than do college-level football players — collisions that can lead to concussions and serious cervical spine injuries, according to a new University of Illinois study.