Election 2010

* Jackson axes her campaign manager

Campaign Manager Rodney Shelton was informed his services would no longer be required.[…]

“It’s just an internal move,” campaign spokesman Bob Kettlewell said Monday, offering no further explanation. Deputy Campaign Manager Lisa Hargrove will move up to replace Shelton.

* Alexi Giannoulias’ lost Illinois millions

* Brady bashes suburban competition

State Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington ripped into some of his suburban challengers in the Republican governor’s primary Monday for opening the possibility to tax hikes if elected.

* Brady starts to campaign locally today

* Brady calls for second hearing on Thomson

* Governor candidates mostly accept evolution

* Candidates: State has a long way to go on reform

* Health care debate in 10th falls along party lines

* Schock part of congressional meeting with Karzai

* U.S. Rep. Schock visits Afghanistan

* Fooled ya again!

You read that here in an Oct. 9 commentary piece for the Tribune by U.S. Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill. He insisted that a government-run insurance plan was the key to affordable, accessible, quality health care. “A public option must be a central component of any health insurance reform legislation,” he wrote.[…]

He even threatened to conduct his own filibuster.

Gotcha!

Burris voted, along with every other Democrat in the Senate, for a bill that doesn’t include even a whiff of the public option.

* Incumbent and predecessor square off in District 21

* Russell believes his outsider status is what sheriff’s office needs

* Patlak: GOP Candidate Called Out for Being a Democrat

* The Grinch who stole immigration reform

How gullible can you get? Democrats only care about one thing, and it’s the same thing that Republicans care about: re-election. And any controversial issue that might get in the way - gay marriage, “don’t ask, don’t tell,” and, yes, illegal immigration - usually gets shoved far back in the cupboard.

* Why Illinois citizens always come up short

State Government
* ICC approves plan to buy power from wind farms

The Illinois Commerce Commission has OKed a plan that would allow the agency that buys electricity on behalf of utility customers to seek proposals for long-term wind-power contracts.

* Texting while driving: State ban starts Friday

* New traffic laws for 2010 to go into effect Friday

* Motorists, police prep for ban on texting while driving

* How to deal with the new Illinois ban on texting while driving

* New Penalties for Calling in Bomb Threat to Schools to take Effect

* New Illinois Law Treats 17-Year-Olds as Juveniles for Misdemeanors

* Fewer complaints, more fines in smoking ban’s second year

* Illinois logs 8,000 smoking complaints

* Some DUI Prisoners Released Early Re-Arrested

* Revised law has 30-day window Safe Haven adds time to make life decision

Beginning Jan. 1, parents can relinquish newborns anonymously and without penalty to personnel at hospitals, emergency medical facilities or police or fire stations for 30 days after birth. Now the law only gives parents seven days and that’s considered insufficient to make a decision that can profoundly affect many lives.

* DuPage County hacked off by ComEd’s tree management

DuPage County officials are seeking the state legislature’s help to ensure vegetation is properly replaced along the Illinois Prairie Path and the Great Western Trail after ComEd trims or removes trees near its power lines.

The County Board turned to state lawmakers earlier this month after being told ComEd could not continue future management of vegetation along the trails to a standard officials said was agreed to earlier this year.

* Water leak damages reception area in governor’s office

* 2002: Blago becomes governor

* Illinois River flooding threat called minimal

* COLUMN: Maybe coal will be the symbol for this area’s Valentine’s Day in 2010

Michael Mudd, CEO of the FutureGen Alliance, said recently that he still expects a final decision by late January on the project for Mattoon.

FutureGen, as most of you know, is a $2 billion-plus project planned for Mattoon. It is awaiting final approval by the U.S. Department of Energy with the feds scheduled to make a final decision by late January.

* Our Opinion: Public access counselor bolsters FOIA

* Citizens need to make good use of amended FOIA

Miscellaneous

* Foreclosures aren’t fading

Home foreclosures, which have pummeled many Chicago area neighborhoods, are expected to continue to mount in 2010, and high unemployment will be the driver, experts say.

* Chicagoans Bracing for Single-Digit Temps

* Holiday retail sales up a tad over 2008

The spending bounce means retailers managed to avoid a repeat of last year’s disaster even amid tight credit and double-digit unemployment. Profits should be healthier, too, because stores had a year to plan their inventories to match consumer demand and never needed to resort to fire-sale clearances.

* Weather hampers post-Christmas sales

* Great Lakes at or near historical water levels

The Detroit News reports Monday that the latest estimates from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers show levels in the Lake Michigan-Huron system and Lake Superior are between 5 inches and 9 inches above levels from one year ago.

* Invasive species lawsuit expands

* Minnesota AG: Keep Asian carp out of Great Lakes

* Minnesota Weighs in on Asian Carp Debate

* Report: Coal use pushes mercury emissions up in Illinois

* Mercury pollution increases in Illinois

Legal forces in the Upper Midwest arrayed against the invasive Asian carp Monday, as Minnesota joined a lawsuit with Ohio and Michigan applying legal pressure to seal off Illinois’ carp-infested waterways from the Great Lakes.

* Bradley University offers computer gaming

BU’s computer science department is a partner with the interactive media program in the communication school on a range of offerings that, pending faculty approval, could mean that Bradley students would soon be able to opt for a minor in computer game technology.

* State says it will demolish Cline extension

* CTA offers penny rides on New Years Eve

* Winter hazard in new LED signals

Towns across Illinois and nationwide have switched to LED traffic signals because they burn brighter, last longer and save money by using 90 percent less energy than older incandescent bulbs. But they also emit less heat, meaning they sometimes have trouble melting snow.

* Illinois company to pay $1.25 million for lead in train toys

* Chicago company takes Yahoo to court over defamatory posts

* O my! Chicago pop culture center stage in 21st century

* Chicago Library projects record circulation in ‘09

* Water secret revealed decades of tainted well use

For more than two decades, residents in Crestwood filled their bath tubs, poured glasses at their dinner tables and washed their clothes without giving it a second thought.[…]

But this community of 11,000 did so not knowing their water wasn’t being piped completely from Lake Michigan as they believed.–

Water from a well tainted with cancer-causing chemicals was being used to supplement the flow, in an alleged scheme by the village to rake in a few extra dollars.

* Elmwood Park outage affected nearly 2,000

* County hopes to cut deputy layoffs with expedited retirements

* Our Opinion: County should not give in to deputies

* Fines possible, but unlikely, for snow-covered sidewalks

* Despite budget cuts, snow plows get thumbs up

* Aging CityLink fleet rusting away

* Springfield airport beefs up security; passengers urged to arrive early

* No. 3 Story of the Decade: 9/11 attacks shock Springfield

* After many delays, Orland Township moving this week

* NAACP opposes cutting community relations position

* Bloomington Council OKs $1.9 million in downtown projects

* Bloomington delays $1.4 million payment to developers

* Bloomington hires agency to collect on unpaid ambulance bills