* Gov. wants outside legal help for IDOT suit

Once again, Gov. Rod Blagojevich wants to fire Attorney General Lisa Madigan as his lawyer in a lawsuit filed against his administration.

The Blagojevich administration is asking a Sangamon County judge to let it hire its own outside legal counsel in the suit aimed at blocking the move of the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Division of Traffic Safety from Springfield to southern Illinois.

* Get in a visit before parks close—for good

Castle Rock and four other Chicago-area state parks are scheduled to close on Nov. 30 due to budget cuts. Explore their hiking trails, their fishing ponds, their scenic overlooks—quickly. Unless there is a last-minute reprieve from Gov. Rod Blagojevich, you have a little over three weeks.

* War of Words Over Finders Keepers Law (Video)

* Alvarez plans to target gun violence

She plans to push for a state law to require gun owners to report lost or stolen guns within 72 hours of when they go missing, an effort to weed out those illegally selling weapons to gang members.

Alvarez also wants the office to renew the fight against domestic violence, and said she wants to retrain 911 dispatchers on how to handle such calls, which can be used in court when prosecuting offenders. She also would like to find a way to automatically transmit tapes from domestic violence 911 calls to the office to aid prosecutors in building a case.

* Alvarez undaunted by challenges ahead of her

* Daley proposes amnesty for overdue parking tickets

Mayor Daley on Wednesday proposed a six-week amnesty for 3.5 million overdue parking and red-light tickets to soften political opposition to his $40 million plan to drop the Denver boot threshold from three unpaid tickets to two.

* Daley plan gives Block 37 extra $12 mil. for hotel

The $12 million joins $42.4 million the city already has committed to Block 37 from its Central Loop tax-increment financing district.

The new money would partially compensate the block’s lead developer, Joseph Freed & Associates LLC, for cost overruns in the construction of a CTA station beneath the property.

Peter Scales, spokesman for the city’s planning department, said the money was needed to make the hotel viable. Without it, Freed would have to pass the cost overruns onto Loews Corp., probably causing the hotel operator to quit the deal, Scales said.

* Stroger’s nemesis likely to stay right where he is

* Democrats gain, but didn’t ‘Turn DuPage Blue’

Local Republicans saw other forces at work.

Naperville Township GOP Chairman Rachel M. Ossyra said with Obama’s strong win in DuPage, she thinks new voters cast ballots for those whose names appeared on the top line for board seat choices or split their votes between Democrats and Republicans. The Democrats’ campaigns show Republicans are not in serious trouble in DuPage, she said.

* Democratic power surge in Will County Will County Republicans take a beating

Among the Republican casualties Tuesday night was majority leader Wayne McMillan, a board member since 2000, who lost to Bolingbrook businesswoman Jackie Traynere; 16-year veteran Ron Svara, who lost to Joliet banker Diane Seiler; Nella Piccolin, who was unseated by newcomer Katrina Deutsche; and two-time board member Joe Baltz, who trails Sharon May by 12 votes with absentee and provisional ballots still to be counted.

Democrats beat out GOP rivals in two other hotly contested races as Kevin Duffy Blackburn defeated incumbent Steve Weber for county auditor and Karen Stukel outpolled Laurie McPhillips for recorder of deeds.

* Democrats add to presence on McHenry County Board

* Jung blames Democratic wave for loss

* Chairwoman of Lake County Board looking for bipartisan approach after gains by Democrats

* GOP blame Obama ‘mania,’ ‘lies’ for Lake County Board losses

* GOP holds on to its majority on Kankakee County Board

* We’re still eating out

Average restaurant tab in Chicago totals $35.17