* Prairie State Blue: 3rd Illinois Congressional district roundup

* Oberweis has no comment on lawsuit from collision; more here

* Clout Street: Geography lesson doled out in race to succeed Hastert

* Blagojevich’s donor choice frowned upon by Green Party

The Illinois Green Party on Monday slammed Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s recent appointment of a campaign donor to the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Party leaders questioned the decision to name Illinois State University trustee Jay Bergman to the state oversight board, citing his oil company’s pollution record and his more than $40,000 in campaign contributions to the governor since 2002.

* Carle hospital files suit in tax issue

* Zorn: Political song contest winners

* Fed to unveil subprime home mortgage plan

* Editorial: Tough questions about Cook Co. budget would be a lovely idea

* Tribune Editorial: For Cook Co, it’s over

The future is a blend of new technology, fewer employees, lower budgets — and better services for the county’s 5 million citizen-taxpayers. The battle by Stroger, his board allies and the ward bosses to protect the county bureaucracy, and to add 1,100 workers, is a bleat from a dying era.

How long will it be until a single Web page for each parcel unifies all of the county’s property functions — assessor, recorder, clerk, treasurer, Board of Review? How long until an automation plan like that used in federal courts unifies records of the county’s chief judge, state’s attorney, sheriff and clerk of court? We know that future is coming. Taxpayers demand it.

* Clout City: Progress for progressives?

Between the lines, aldermen say that getting an independent/progressive/sometime-opposition bloc together has been slow and tough–or at least slower and tougher than initially expected. Call them smart or write them off as wusses, but several aldermen who’ve worked with Moore, Preckwinkle, and Munoz on particular issues, such as police accountability or affordable housing, have shown only tepid interest in appearing to join a group created as a Daley alternative. Others say they don’t want to give up their independence to the Independent Caucus any more than they want to hand it over to the mayor.

* Editorial: Don’t make letters into minefields

The decision had nothing to do with whether this newspaper leans Republican or Democrat, or if it loves or hates Obama or Oprah, or whether we purposely deny access to the Viewpoint page to those with whom we disagree.

It was the way Roeser wove fact and opinion into the letter. The result was implications that in one portion I considered a smear and in another portion potentially libelous. And though Roeser would be clearly identified as the letter’s writer, we steer clear of content that might result in a court date for The Courier News.

* Mobster pals give to pols

* Martire: Illinois must change approach to education, race

So what does all this mean? Taken together, it’s pretty clear education is truly the key to economic self-sufficiency, just not equally for everyone — particularly African-Americans. It also means it’s well past the hour for Illinois to break the 30-year stalemate on school-funding reform. This is the only way to ensure every child receives the quality education needed to become competitive in the global economy.

But the data also make it clear a quality education won’t eliminate racism — particularly as it affects opportunity for blacks. For that to happen, Illinois needs an honest dialogue recognizing the role of persistent racism, and a thoughtful approach to eliminating it.

* Officials tout tech program

“This new tool offers a great opportunity to help communities and organizations build capacity, improve quality of life and participate in the regional planning process,” said Walsh. “There is no doubt that with the significant growth we’ve experienced in the region and projections of 1.2 million people living in Will County by 2030 — if not before, this Technical Assistance Program can be very beneficial to many.”

* New law will ease use of gift cards

A state law taking effect next month aims to make gift cards and gift certificates more consumer-friendly by giving recipients five years to spend them.

In addition, the recipients won’t be charged fees that diminish the value of the card or certificate. Some gift cards presently charge consumers a fee if they don’t spend all of the card’s value within a specified period of time.

* Suffredin says he’d be tougher on corruption

Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin (D-Evanston), seeking the Democratic nomination for state’s attorney, will propose a “public corruption strike force” at a press conference today.

The strike force would handle cases involving elected and appointed officials, government vendors and police officers, Suffredin said.

“This kind of investigation has not been a priority for Devine,” Suffredin said.