* Tribune bankruptcy plan ‘dead on arrival’

Lenders who say they are owed more than $3.6 billion by Tribune Co. are calling a purported global settlement that the media company announced last week “dead on arrival.”

* Tribune Co. files long-awaited, contested reorganization plan

* ‘Chicago way’ at play in turmoil at CSU

Last week, Watson’s hired gun, N’Digo publisher Hermene Hartman, posted a scathing article on Huffington Post about my columns denouncing the manner in which acclaimed publisher and poet Haki Madhubuti left the university. […]

Although she picked me apart, the magazine publisher did not disclose the contract she was given by Chicago State University.

What she said was: “Dr. Wayne Watson, the president of Chicago State University, and I were vice chancellors at City Colleges together. He is my friend.”

What she should have added is: By the way, before Watson could get his bags unpacked at Chicago State, I had already landed a $19,000 contract for marketing consulting work.

* Chicago businesses given 2-year reprieve on landscaping ordinance

Defying Mayor Daley, the City Council’s License Committee agreed today to give businesses a two-year reprieve from the costly demands of Chicago’s 1991 landscaping ordinance.

* Committee waters down massage parlor ordinance

After a barrage of complaints from hairdressers, nail salons and health clubs, the City Council’s Zoning Committee on Monday watered-down the ordinance championed by Ald. Ray Suarez (31st).

* Chicago aldermen target massage parlors

* 1 inspector general could be better than 2

There are many reasons to be doubtful of the ordinance Chicago aldermen plan to put forward today for a separate inspector general empowered for the first time to investigate the City Council.

The biggest reason may not actually be in the proposed ordinance itself, but in how it’s expected to be put into practice.

It seems the aldermen are envisioning the new inspector general as a part-time job.

* Aldermen propose tight curbs on anyone who could investigate them

* Chicago reports a sharp drop in potholes

* Chicago sees fewer potholes during winter

* Parade will go on, Chicago’s Poles say

* No more free beach parking

Attention all motorists fortunate enough to find a close-to-the-beach parking spot this summer: No more free rides.

* Coast Guard putting back Great Lakes buoys

* Asian carp: Petition fights proposal to close locks to keep Asian carp out of Lake Michigan

* Metra train deaths force police to step up enforcement, vigilance

* Dealing with vacant homes in Southland

The south suburbs own a dubious honor. According to the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, our area is known for the highest rate of vacant homes in the state.[…]

The next step from a vacant home is an abandoned one. And abandoned properties quickly can become blights, attracting crime and vandalism. Ignored and unkempt, they make an entire neighborhood look bad.

* Consumer confidence up

Consumer confidence in the Peoria area improved a little over the last six months, but still hasn’t reached positive levels in some areas.

That’s according to the Spring 2010 Index of Consumer Sentiment produced by the Center for Business and Economic Research at Bradley University, to be released Tuesday.

* Bloomington OKs budget, but some want future spending to be cut