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FYI- I will be guest blogging again today. I will have some post up very soon, however, a few posts will just be round-ups because I have work at 11:30.
* CPS Keeping Quiet About Investigation
CPS head Ron Huberman won’t say much about the investigation, just that it’s on going.
* CPS president subpoenaed
Chicago Board of Education President Michael Scott disclosed Tuesday that he has been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury investigating how students are chosen for admission to some of the city’s most elite public schools.
Scott said he was surprised by the subpoena and flatly denied that he has ever flexed his political muscle — during two stints as board president — to clout any student into a “selective enrollment” school.[…]
Scott said the Board of Education launched its internal investigation of the admissions process before the federal grand jury issued separate subpoenas for school records and Scott’s testimony.
* Jeremih to encourage CPS kids to go back to school via Twitter
Jeremih Felton — the home-grown rapper who struck gold with the racy song, “Birthday Sex”— has agreed to use “Twitter” to encourage his 70,000 followers to get back to Chicago Public Schools on Sept. 8.[…]
He’s the local kid who made good — a Morgan Park High School alum who graduated at 16 and studied engineering at the University of Illinois before transferring to Columbia College to pursue music.
But the raunchy lyrics of “Birthday Sex” also make Jeremih a somewhat controversial choice.[…]
“He had 70 million hits on his MySpace page. For us to be naïve and believe that this is not what our students are listening to would be not living in the world where our students are,” Huberman said.
* One quarter of Chicagoans unwired
One-quarter of Chicagoans are unwired: They don’t use the Internet at all, anywhere, a new study revealed Monday.[…]
African-Americans were 6 percent less likely to use the Internet than whites, while Latinos were 18 percent less likely, after age, income and education were taken into account.
* One-quarter of Chicagoans can’t see this story
In a citywide survey, the study found that only 39 percent of Spanish-speaking Latinos are Internet users. That compares to 79 percent among English-speaking respondents.
* Hospital boosts parking pledge
The planned development approved by the City Council and the Chicago Plan Commission required Northwestern Memorial, which owns the land at 215-233 E. Chestnut, to provide a minimum of 1,100 new parking spaces prior to 2012, when the $1 billion Children’s Memorial Hospital is expected.
Northwestern is exceeding that promise. At last week’s City Council meeting, the hospital filed a zoning application that calls for construction of a 1,300-space parking garage at 440-458 E. Ohio — 200 more spaces than initially promised.
* Proposed heliport amid Streeterville high-rises now up to state
Experts from the Illinois Department of Transportation will pore over stacks of statistics and tales of medical emergencies in trying to decide whether a heliport proposed for the new Lurie Children’s Hospital in Streeterville can be built.
* ‘Silent’ heart attacks heard by new ECG test
* Workers cultivate their future at nonprofit farm
A new Farm and Training Center at the organization’s South Wood Street location opens Wednesday and is intended to be part of what city officials call an “urban agricultural district.” A garden center, bakery and additional farmland may be added to the district in coming years, said Harry Rhodes, Growing Home’s executive director.
* Subdivisions designed for conservation get a boost
Will County, others see developments bloom after rules were changed[…]
A quick look at real estate offerings shows a vacant lot in Canterbury Lakes priced at $129,000, while a nearby single-family home’s asking price is about $800,000.
“People will pay a premium to live next to managed open space,” Lobbes said, adding that a home within 600 feet of open space commands a 19 percent premium — if it’s an aesthetically pleasing natural area.
* Orland Park mayor unveils ‘Smart Living’ project
Orland Park rolled out an initiative Tuesday to make the village a greener community including a program for residents, businesses and housing developments.
* Smart Living comes to Orland Park
By developing an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Municipal Action Plan (ECOMAP), Orland Park will ask ComEd and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to set aside nearly $400,000 ($200,000 from each agency in the first year) to help implement its strategy. It also expects to get $520,000 in federal funds.
* Some towns feeling growing pains
When the Village Board demoted Police Chief Michael Joswick, former Mayor Gordon Mueller — who hired Joswick as a part-time officer 27 years ago — called it “one of the blackest days in Gilberts history.”
For the other side of the story, though, you’d need to talk to the man who cast the tie-breaking vote that resulted in the chief’s removal last week. The village used to be able to juggle the needs of hundreds of residents, but the population jumped almost 500 percent in eight years and that demanded new tactics, Mayor Rick Zirk said. Joswick and Zirk ended up at philosophical odds, both said.
* Belvidere, firefighters come to agreement
* Millions announced in Illinois research funding
* The jobs map
Last week, the City Council did what it does best: pass the buck. An ordinance that would open the way for a Wal-Mart Supercenter on the South Side skipped from the Rules Committee to the Finance Committee, where it is likely to settle in for a long winter’s rest. Finance Committee Chairman Ed Burke (14th) and other council leaders appear to be in no hurry to let the Wal-Mart ordinance escape to a vote on the floor of the council.
Construction of the store would create 200 jobs. The store, once it was running, would provide nearly 500 jobs. […]
Organized labor doesn’t like Wal-Mart because Wal-Mart doesn’t have union jobs. It just has jobs (with an average hourly wage of $12.05 in Chicago). […]
One in 10 Chicagoans is out of work.
* Caterpillar CEO reaffirms outlook, recovery
Caterpillar Inc. said Tuesday its cost cuts and strategic planning had positioned the company for long-term profitability whether the global economy improves or remains mired in recession.
The world’s largest maker of construction and mining equipment affirmed its 2009 forecast and said it expects profit of $8 to $10 per share within five years if the world economy recovers and $2.50 per share annually if the recession continues.
* Owens says Cat will gain strength, market position
* Hewitt rises as company boosts full-year outlook
Human-resource services company Hewitt Associates Inc. posted third-quarter profit that beat market expectations, helped by lower expenses, and raised its full-year earnings outlook by 10 cents, sending its shares up 5 percent in early trading.
* Kraft Foods 2Q profit rises 11 percent
* First American takes $50M TARP infusion
First American, based in Elk Grove Village, is one of the area’s largest banks, with $2.8 billion in assets and 49 branches in the city and suburbs. CEO Thomas Wells says First American saw the capital infusion, completed July 24, as a prudent step to take with uncertainty about the economy still prevalent.
“We could have gone to our shareholders, but that gets to be pretty heavy lifting,” Mr. Wells said Tuesday. “We felt that this was the very conservative way to play the game.”
* United’s on-time rate, traffic levels dip
Also Tuesday, United said its traffic fell 4% in July as a steep uptick in regional traffic partially offset a continued downturn in its core business.
United said paying passengers flew a total of 11.15 billion miles last month, compared with 11.62 billion a year earlier. Excluding a 19.3% gain from regional carriers operated by United, traffic fell 6.5%.
* Can hobbled Huron Consulting survive this scandal?
Late Friday, Huron said it would restate results for the three years ended in 2008 and for the first quarter of 2009, resulting in a halving of its profits, to $63 million from $120 million, for the 39-month period. Revenue projections for 2009 were cut by more than 10%, to a range of $650 million to $680 million from $730 million to $770 million.
* Northern Illinois Food Bank began in 1983 and serves 13 counties
The bank covered only DuPage County at the time but has expanded to 13 counties and distributes more than 2 million pounds of food a month.
* Catholic Charities: ‘If you come in helpless, they will help you’
“If you come in helpless, they’ll help you,” said Waldron, 33, who lost her job as a health club sales manager a year ago. The Waldrons are among the 468 families using the Emergency Assistance Food Pantry Program at Catholic Charities North/Northwest Regional Services in Des Plaines.
The number of families has nearly doubled in the last year, officials said.
* BGA files suit against impostor ‘New BGA’
An independent, non-partisan political watchdog group formed in Chicago in 1923 does not want to be confused with a highly-partisan new group out of Akron, Ohio, also calling itself the Better Government Association.
* Lawsuit claims Natural Hair Growth Institute’s products, therapy didn’t work
* 1 in 10 Illinois drivers have potentially defective license plates
* Handicap parking scofflaws: Anonymous complaints on Illinois Web site brings in 114 complaints
* Brown’s Chicken massacre comes back to haunt Palatine
* Object lessons in elusive justice
* Two beluga whales pregnant at Shedd
posted by Mike Murray
Wednesday, Aug 5, 09 @ 9:17 am
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Michael Scott can flatly deny all he wants in front of the media but he better carefully consider his answers in front of the feds. The fifth anyone?
Comment by hank Wednesday, Aug 5, 09 @ 10:09 am
Did the beluga whales listen to the birthday sex song?
Comment by Ravenswood Right Winger Wednesday, Aug 5, 09 @ 10:35 am