* Data shows more Illinois residents live in poverty

New data shows about 240,000 more Illinoisans lived in poverty in 2008 compared with 2000 and researchers say those statistics don’t fully reflect the current recession.

According to U.S. Census data made public Tuesday, the state’s poverty rate was 10.7 percent in 2000 and jumped to 12.2 percent in 2008.

The median household income in Illinois dropped from $60,203 in 2000 to $56,235 in 2008.[…]

The poverty rate, a set of federal measures, means that a four would live on $21,200 or less.

* Applause for Mayor Daley’s Olympic effort

* PJSTAR: An Olympian effort from the Windy City

* Chicago delegation leaves for Copenhagen

* Olympic countdown: Long night’s journey into day

* With Games on the line, we’ve got perfect go-to guy

* Will Obama tip Olympic scales for Chicago?

* Chicagoans Protest the 2016 Bid

Many delegates for Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid have landed in Copenhagen this morning. Meanwhile, a group in Chicago plans to protest the city’s bid later today.

* If we end up losing …

* Blame Rio site on ad exec

* Report: Fire city public safety exec

The inspector general’s office is recommending the firing of the No. 2 man at Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications for alleged contract irregularities that cost taxpayers $2.25 million.

* Sources: Ex-CHA chief, Daley ally next CTA head

Former Chicago Housing Authority chief Terry Peterson, who has emerged as one of Mayor Daley’s closest political confidantes, is the mayor’s choice to replace departing CTA Board Chairwoman Carole Brown, City Hall sources said Monday.

* Congress Hotel: Despite strike, judge allows sidewalk cafe

Judge Ronald Guzman enjoined the City of Chicago and Ald. Robert Fioretti, 2nd, from denying the hotel a cafe due to a long strike by hotel employees. Guzman wrote that “the only reasonable conclusion” was that the alderman refused to sign off on the hotel’s application because he’s a strong backer of the striking union.

In its suit, the hotel claimed that the alderman’s actions violated the National Labor Relations Act, which forbids state and local governments from trying to tip a labor dispute to one side. By the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, a federal law takes precedence over local law — or in this case, an unwritten but real political practice, the judge ruled.

Guzman found that Fioretti was exercising “aldermanic privilege,” a long-standing pillar of Chicago politics that makes an alderman a final arbiter of zoning matters in his own ward.

* Escapee case: 2 investigators overpowered by felon may face administrative charges

Cook County State’s Atty. Anita Alvarez has notified two of her investigators that they may face administrative charges for discrediting her office after a convicted felon escaped from their custody this month and eluded police in a two-day crime spree.

* In-your-face brutality rivets and disgusts

This time, it was on 111th Street, a few blocks from Fenger High School. The cell phone video shows an honor student, caught up in a gang fight, being clubbed to death. Our hope is that the video will lead to the identification and punishment of all those responsible for the death of the boy, 16-year-old Derrion Albert.

* Tensions Flare at Vigil for Teen Beating Victim

The melee on Thursday was captured on a cell phone video. It shows a group striking Albert with boards and kicking him as he lay on a sidewalk.

* 3 teenagers charged in Chicago beating death

Three teenagers have been ordered held without bail on charges of first-degree murder in the beating death of a Chicago student who was walking home from school.

* 4th teen charged in beating death of student

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s office announced late Monday that first-degree murder charges have been filed against 18-year-old Eugene Bailey.

* Fenger High School: Fear, frustration come to campus

Days after an honor student was slain, kids list the perils of walking to school, while parents demand a halt to violence

* When school bell rings, hell can break loose

Dismissal time is perhaps most dangerous part of day for youths

* Union leader: Mayor ‘a threat’ to Rockford

Rockford police officers, who say they are already understaffed, feel betrayed by a city that intends to lay off eight officers this week, police union President Aurelio DeLaRosa writes in a letter addressed to union membership and released during Monday night’s Rockford City Council meeting.[…]

“(The union) feels this mayor is a threat to the health and well-being of every person in this city,” DeLaRosa writes. “Someone should start mayoral impeachment proceedings.”

* $2.5M going to reduce Illinois DNA backlog

* Illinois 33rd Brigade wraps up Afghanistan mission

Last members of Guard unit heading home

* Troops’ return ends Ill. Guard Afghan mission

Buses carrying 188 Illinois National Guard troops on the last legs of their trips home from Afghanistan fanned out across the state Monday, bringing to an end a yearlong deployment that cost 18 of the state’s soldiers their lives.

* Nativity scene to be back in Capitol this Christmas

* Late harvest, shorter days could mean danger for farmers

* Every 26 seconds, someone hits a deer

One in every 228 Illinois drivers will hit a deer this year, according to a State Farm analysis.

Illinois deer-car collisions are up 3 percent from five years ago, a slight uptick compared with the 18 percent increase in collisions around the country in that same time period, State Farm is reporting.

The insurance agency’s research suggests that every 26 seconds in America, someone slams a deer with a vehicle.