Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Morning Shorts

Posted in:

Illinois

* New Report: Health Effects from Chicago Coal Plants Costing Millions

The Environmental Law and Policy Center says the health effects of the Fisk and Crawford coal plants in the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods are adding up.

Howard Learner is the Environmental Law and Policy Center’s executive director.

He says new research shows the pollution has caused about $750 million to $1 billion in health and related damages over the last eight years.

* Tate & Lyle will move a portion of its Decatur operations to Hoffman Estates

The company anticipates roughly 80 people will be relocated as a result of the move that will cost the company up to $58 million to make, Tate & Lyle spokesman Chris Olsen said. An additional 40 positions in Decatur will be eliminated in 12 months, he said. […]

City officials in recent months have tried to persuade Tate & Lyle to stay in Decatur. At first, they thought hundreds of jobs could be in jeopardy. Tate & Lyle has been Decatur’s third-largest corporate employer.

Decatur Mayor Mike McElroy said he thought some jobs were saved as a result of the work that was done.
“I do know that it could have been more,” McElroy said. “Through the hard work of several people, they certainly brought that number down from what we had been told originally.”

The Economic Development Corporation of Decatur and Macon County assisted the city in presenting its incentive package. Some of the incentives are still being discussed but include job training assistance, enterprise zone and qualified work force packages, in addition to infrastructure and environmental considerations, said Craig Coil, president of the organization.

* Tate & Lyle Moves Jobs Out of Decatur

* Tate & Lyle Opening New Building In Hoffman Estates

* Adam Brown’s Statement On Tate & Lyle

* Mayor backs top cop in brutality investigation

Daley told reporters that a “young person was handcuffed and . . . police officers watched it and someone went over and punched him in the jaw. The superintendent immediately suspended [them] — all . . . who watched it and the individual [who] punched the individual who was handcuffed.”

A source close to the officers said Tuesday that the suspect had tried to spit on the sergeant, who “moved” the suspect’s face to avoid getting hit with saliva.

* Daley defends Weis’ decision to strip cops’ police powers

* Dart plans to halt foreclosure evictions — again

Dart, who is mulling a run for Chicago mayor, said he won’t carry out evictions by three banks that have admitted questionable foreclosure practices until they can provide proof that their evictions are legal.

Dart said he plans to halt hundreds of evictions starting Monday unless the lenders — Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Ally Financial Inc.’s GMAC unit — can provide sworn statements that “everything was done properly.”

* Cook Sheriff Dart stops foreclosure evictions again

* Brown: Halting evictions will just delay the inevitable

* Schmich: Ollie’s death marks Cabrini’s end

When the history of Cabrini-Green is written, the murder of Ollie will mark the day Cabrini really died.

Ollie’s full name was Bassam Naoum, and since Saturday night, when he was shot to death in one of his two small stores, he’s all anyone in Cabrini seems to be talking about. […]

Early Parker, who’s 66, was playing chess over by the Cabrini row houses a little after 9 on Saturday night when somebody ran past and said somebody got shot.

Over on Orleans. At Munchies. It was Ollie, Parker’s boss. Shot repeatedly. In the back.

* CHA Residents Want Lathrop Homes to Remain Affordable

CHA wants Lathrop to be a community of public, affordable and market-rate housing. The surrounding Lathrop neighborhood, off of the Chicago River, has condos and retail activity.

* Federal Judge Suspends CPS Recall Plan for Teachers

* Sun-Times Media cuts more than dozen news, business staffers

Four editorial jobs were cut at the Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday, four at the weekly Pioneer Press papers since Friday and two at the daily Lake County News-Sun of Waukegan in the past two weeks, said Lynne Stiefel, president of the Chicago Newspaper Guild, the union that represents employees at those papers.

* Sun-Times Jim Tyree Diagnosed With Cancer

* Tribune’s top exec poised to resign

* Tribune CEO Michaels still on the job, despite speculation

* Tribune CEO on job despite reports he would quit, be fired

* Time Out Chicago names Ivy Lester new publisher

* 2nd teen pleads guilty in deaths of former CLTV host’s parents

Reo Jonta Thompson, 18, pleaded guilty to two counts of felony murder in the abduction and shooting deaths of Hammond residents Milton McClendon, 78, and Ruby McClendon, 76.

Thompson, 18, admitted he and co-defendant Gregory Brooks Jr., 19, of Hammond, fatally shot the couple and left their bodies in a Cook County Forest Preserve after abducting them at gunpoint from their home one year ago Monday.

* Former Rezko partner gets 3 years probation

* Rezko Associate Gets Probation, Pay $2.3M

* Carla Oglesby Files for Unemployment

* Kadner: Township school trustees keep legal bills coming

Two of those school districts are suing the township school board, which educates no one. It basically hires the school treasurer to invest money. That’s it.

Joseph Bertrand Jr. was elected to the township school board in April 2007, but other board members refused to seat him - citing an obscure section of state law that prohibits two board members from representing the same school district.

Bertrand filed a lawsuit and won his seat, and the board spent more than $200,000 fighting that lawsuit.

* With recall looming, Stone holds court at BG meeting

Stone used whatever time was available to her to talk about her pet issue, the Land and Lakes Landfill, again accusing Village President Elliott Hartstein of a cover-up involving an alleged altered e-mail by former Village Manager William Brimm concerning the site.

* Will County Board: Taxes likely won’t increase

* Property tax rate stays flat in Bartlett

* Oswego school board votes for 3rd high school

* Oswego keeps its tax levy in line with what it was last year

* Council OKs Park’s Edge annexation

* Rochelle to be home to $35M plant for commuter railcars

* Friday negotiations seek to prevent East Moline police layoffs

* Galesburg aldermen oppose raising taxes

* Henry Alderman’s unpaid taxes raise questions

* Peoria Councilman’s wife gets order of protection

* Peoria Council endorses budget plan

Fifteen firefighter and 13 police officer positions remained cut from the preliminary 2011 budget after the City Council voted 9-1 Tuesday to endorse the administration’s proposed operations budget for next year.

The proposed cuts, if they stand, could potentially result in the closure of a fire station, according to the city’s fire chief and union president.

* Work may begin this year on wind farm north of B-N

The farm, which will bring up to 223 wind turbines over 37,800 acres in Lexington, Lawndale, Chenoa and Yates townships, won final approval from the McLean County Board Tuesday.

* McLean County Board removes Nuckolls from committees

Nuckolls, who did not attend the County Board meeting, is facing misdemeanor charges of domestic battery and interfering with reporting of domestic violence and a felony count of unlawful restraint. Under state law, he cannot be removed from the board unless he is found guilty or pleads guilty to a felony charge.

* Heartland OKs $1.7M bond sale

* Richland issuing bonds to pay for maintenance; state remains behind in payments

* Ex-city officer to be sentenced in Ill. shooting

* Congressmen: There will be a levee meeting

Campaigning is a top priority until Nov. 2, but U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, said Tuesday he hopes to schedule an initial meeting sometime in November. He, U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, would attend and share information on how to address problems.

“Initially, we hope to get the levee district officials together with the Corps of Engineers, FEMA, local officials, state, county and other agencies,” Costello said.

* Johnston City May Cut Jobs To Keep Insurance

* Rahm Lays Out School Reform Ideas

* Emanuel shows fundraising edge, but tough battle ahead in Chicago

* Dart Still Coy on Run for Mayor

* Daily Herald: Cook County sheriff: Dart

* Daily Herald: Cook County clerk: Orr

* Preckwinkle piles up cash in Cook County Board president contest

* Claypool outraising Berrios in Cook County assessor’s contest

* Southtown Star: Gorman for Cook County 17th District

* Daily Herald: Cook County Board: Keats

* Daily Herald: DuPage County, District 1: Puchalski

* Daily Herald: DuPage County, District 2: Redick

* Daily Herald: DuPage County, District 3: Krajewski

* Daily Herald: DuPage County, District 4: McBride

* Daily Herald: Kane County Sheriff: Perez

* Daily Herald: Kane County clerk: Cunningham

* Daily Herald: Kane County treasurer: Rickert

* Daily Herald: Lake County sheriff: Curran

* Daily Herald: Lake County Clerk: Helander

* Daily Herald: Lake Regional Schools Superintendent: McDermott

* At least three Arlington Heights trustees will run in April

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Oct 20, 10 @ 8:23 am

Comments

Good for Dart on the foreclosure halt.

The chutzpah on these banks. They made fortunes flipping real estate and driving the housing bubble lending money at 50-1 ratios. Then they crash the world economy when the bubble bursts.

Now, they’re back on their feet making profits again thanks to taxpayer bailouts, and in their rush to toss people out of their homes (and make money flipping them again), they can’t even get the paperwork right.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Oct 20, 10 @ 8:53 am
the fact that Dart has to do the stoppage again shows just how greedy and badly managed these banks are. yes, good for him for taking to to the bad banks again.

Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Oct 20, 10 @ 9:32 am
Sun-times is reporting Rahm Emmanual won’t need Darts help because his home is not being foreclosed-nor is at risk of.

Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Wednesday, Oct 20, 10 @ 9:51 am
There should be a database online that shows which law firms are making how much off which taxing bodies on which cases.

Much litigation that elected officials choose to engage in is stupid or worse.

It should be much easier to connect the dots between the cases, the politicians and the law firms getting rich at the public teat.

Comment by Carl Nyberg Wednesday, Oct 20, 10 @ 10:29 am
I must confess that the entire matter of the Claypool/Berrios fundraising derby is, in the final analysis, a discussion about which pocket of the same pair of pants to put your money.
*Both are career politicians with all the attendant warts.
*Neither, despite Mr. Claypool’s hortations, is a ‘reformer.’
*Both are entirely inured of the ‘win-at-all-costs’ regardless of who ends up under the bus.
*Both are up to their ears in defending lawsuits - Berrios, along with Rogers jr., and Houlihan, in TWO federal court lawsuits,each charging denial of constitutional rights and one additionally charging maintaining a ‘continuing racketeering enterprise’ under the civil RICO Act. Claypool, his henchman and henchPAC, charged in state court with defaming, libeling and manufacturing facts and sources a private citizen - a private businessman - for marginal political gain.

To say Hobson would be driven to drink is a monumental understatement.

Comment by PoxOnBoth Wednesday, Oct 20, 10 @ 10:43 am
Thoughts are prayers go out to Jim Tyree. What a wonderful man and asset to the City of Chicago.

Comment by Near North Wednesday, Oct 20, 10 @ 12:34 pm