* State budget cuts hit shelter hard…

Barb Hicks doesn’t know how many more services Madonna House can cut.

But dire state financial conditions have forced Hicks, the executive and business director of the Quincy shelter, to think about turning away even more people in need.

* Gov. asking lawmakers to end tax breaks for businesses…

On Friday, his budget office could not provide a detailed list of exactly what the governor is seeking, drawing the ire of House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, who has been Blagojevich’s chief legislative nemesis.

“That level of work would be a big burden for him,” Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said. “It’d probably be too much to ask.”

* Smoking law hurts casinos, owners say…

The Illinois Gaming Board reported that casinos in the state experienced a 17 percent revenue decrease in January compared with January last year. The majority of casinos also reported an almost 6 percent decrease in admissions.

Officials are blaming the smoking ban, which went into effect Jan. 1, for the decline. Illinois, along with 18 other states, made it illegal to smoke in nearly every public place and requires smokers to step at least 15 feet away from a building entrance, ventilation intake or an open window before lighting up.

The head of the gaming board said that because people have to go outside to take smoke breaks, that means less time spent gambling.

* Words no Illinois lawmaker will say: “Tax hike.”

* A chilling forecast for Illinois state finances

* Double trouble for state budget

* Even More Bad News for Budget Updated; more here

* State’s spending habits will hurt it as income drops

* Stroger’s new plan: Cut budget, hike tax - Sales tax increase would be slightly smaller

* No more cuts, county officials urge

* R.I. County superintendents may unite to request 1-cent sales tax

* Voters did the right thing; state must be next

* Sales tax new option to mull for area schools

* Bill Would Require Disclosure Of TIF Fund Use

* Vaccine Bill Proposed

* Seniors seeking free public transit get busy signals

* CTA Working To Reduce Frustrating ‘Bus Bunching’

* Chicago’s Potholes a Hit to Wallet

* Biofuels Deemed a Greenhouse Threat

* Don’t cry for FutureGen

* Another ‘clean coal’ project in Illinois still waiting in wings

* SIU, state construction bill now one-year old

* Initiative Seeks to Ban Gas Chamber Euthanasia For Pets

* Illinois attorney general: Water company’s rates too high

* Illinois AG Madigan And State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group Release Report On Mortgage Activities

* FEMA: Damage in Iroquois, Livingston counties manageable

* FEMA: Denial not related to politics

* Bernard Schoenburg: Handley leaving state job to join cable TV group