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* Kadner: When the unemployed no longer count

“I’m what they call a 99er,” the 43-year-old Oak Lawn resident said.
I had heard of 49ers, in reference to the football team in San Francisco and to the California Gold Rush. But I didn’t have a clue what a 99er is.

“It means I’ve gone past Tier 4 in unemployment benefits, which goes to 99 weeks,” Hannah explained. “So they call those of us who are no longer eligible for unemployment ‘99ers.’ ”

And so the Great Recession has created its own language.

No one knows the exact number of 99ers, although the government estimates that they represent about 10 percent of all the people who are jobless. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, that’s 1.4 million Americans, but the number in all likelihood is much greater.

* 60 Gang Members Arrested After Murder

* Two Chicago cops sue Jody Weis for slander

Two Chicago police officers are suing Supt. Jody Weis, alleging the city’s top cop defamed them when he stripped them of their badges after a high-profile internal investigation was launched into a group of officers who allegedly beat a handcuffed suspect.

A global-positioning device in the officers’ squad car showed the Gresham District Tactical Unit officers, Lynn Meuris and Jason Vanna, weren’t present during the alleged Oct. 11 beating and they were returned to street duty .

* Lynwood chief says his cop should sue Will County

* Fire Commissioner Says No Way To Cutting Fire Crews

* Who has the scissors to cut City Hall biz red tape?

Outgoing Mayor Richard M. Daley took a couple of stabs at one-stop-shopping for permits and the like, but the fact is, Chicago remains an extraordinarily difficult place for someone with a good idea but little time and capital to get on his or her feet.

* Sun-Times: Budget ideas deserve a closer inspection

* Gas City files for Chapter 11

* Elmhurst flooding: ‘It’s a capacity issue’

* Glen Ellyn OKs boost in pay for village clerk

* 30 years as Wheaton’s manager

Historical accounts indicate that in DuPage, only the late Elmhurst City Manager Robert Palmer, who held his post from July 1953 until December 1983, served longer. And next spring, Rose will surpass Palmer to become the county’s longest-serving city manager.

* State OKs cancer center in New Lenox

* Rolling Meadows still facing budget crunch

* E.M. schools have new superintendent and board president

* Keystone project a ’slap in the face’ to labor

After receiving millions of dollars in state assistance over the past decade, Keystone Steel & Wire Co., stunned area legislators by hiring out-of-state labor for a current plant upgrade. […]

What the company requested and received was a lower employment threshold to qualify for a utility tax exemption. The exemption is normally granted only to companies with employment of at least 1,000 people.

When layoffs at the Bartonville plant caused employment to dip to 165 salaried workers and 668 hourly workers, the utility tax would normally have kicked in.

A bill signed by Gov. Pat Quinn last January extended the company’s utility tax exemption, a move that saves Keystone an estimated $120,000 to $140,000 a month.

* Peoria City Council left waiting for more budget information

* Sales tax supporters joust with county board members at meeting

* Jackson County Board set to meet today to approve 2011 budget

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Oct 27, 10 @ 9:23 am

Comments

>Rolling Meadows still facing budget crunch

A municipal employee *not* crying poor mouth, and asking for tax increases, but instead finding innovative ways to cut costs?

Amazing!

Comment by Leroy Wednesday, Oct 27, 10 @ 9:28 am
Where are all the statesmen/aldermen who ripped Weiss for his meeting with and warning to gang members to stop the violence or else?

One murder allegedly committed by a Black Souls, and the CPD unloads on the whole gang, making sixty arrests for whatever’s handy.

The approach has shown results everywhere it’s been tried. I give Weiss a lot of credit for standing his ground against these know-nothing aldermanic meddlers.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Oct 27, 10 @ 10:19 am
99 Weeks–Just short of two years. Are they really trying??

Send out 2 resumes per day that would be 1400. I would be willing to bet that 90% of this 10% haven’t sent out 50. That would be one every other week.

Comment by BIG R.PH. Wednesday, Oct 27, 10 @ 10:58 am
>* Kadner: When the unemployed no longer count

Ah but they do count - and the true unemployment count is 27.5 million people as listed on usdebtclock.org. This is up a million from a couple weeks ago. An absolutely total disaster for the Dems.

Comment by Segatari Wednesday, Oct 27, 10 @ 11:11 am
Hey Big, if that pharma gig doesn’t work out, you could definitely teach 2nd grade math.

The unemployed love not working and earning. Makes them feel great, every hour of every day.

That’s why the country is in such a joyous mood right now. There are the happy unemployed, and those who are giddy with anticipation that they might be out of work any day now.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Oct 27, 10 @ 11:17 am
If Kilbride is on the ropes next Tuesday, it is going to be a long night for Madigan and Quinn and a good day for Brady.

Comment by Honest Abe Wednesday, Oct 27, 10 @ 12:17 pm
@Wordslinger,

You are just wrong. I have friends and family that would love ANY job. I have a professional associate that just finished taxi school.

I am somewhat right wing when it comes to entitlements but there are no jobs in many fields.

Open your eyes.

Comment by gg Wednesday, Oct 27, 10 @ 12:42 pm
Uh, gg? Didn’t it occur to you that wordslinger was perhaps being, oh I don’t know - SARCASTIC?

Comment by Anonymous ZZZ Wednesday, Oct 27, 10 @ 12:59 pm
GG, sorry, pilgrim. I thought the sarcasm was clear. I was taking a whack at Big.

Long-term unemployment is devastating, to the unemployed and their loved ones. It’s not just the lack of money. You know what they say — the key to a happy life is good health, satisfying work and someone to share it with.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Oct 27, 10 @ 1:25 pm
Wordslinger, I am continually surprised how some folks don’t get sarcasm. It’s just odd. There some very literal people in the world and lots of them blog.

Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Wednesday, Oct 27, 10 @ 8:35 pm