Morning Shorts
Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 - Posted by Kevin Fanning
* Airlines seek to scale back O’Hare’s expansion
Marking an unprecedented break with City Hall that contradicts the public appearance of solidarity on the $15 billion O’Hare project, executives at six of O’Hare’s largest airlines advised city planners in letters sent this summer to downsize the large-scale remake of the airport to better fit the new economic realities of the struggling industry.
The airlines’ position poses the latest threat to Mayor Richard Daley’s efforts to modernize cramped and outdated facilities at O’Hare by 2014, a process critical to Chicago’s bid to land the 2016 Olympics.
The goal of the O’Hare project is to replace the airport’s outmoded layout of intersecting runways with a parallel runway system that promotes more efficient arrival and departure of airplanes. New passenger terminals are also envisioned to balance the growth in airfield capacity.
But American and United labeled the city’s plan for a new passenger terminal on the west side of the airfield as “ill-conceived.”
* O’Hare to open new runway
* Deflation fears grow as stocks fall
* Oil falls below $53 on fears of deep recession
* Gas not the only price that’s plunging
Core prices, which exclude food and energy, fell by 0.1 percent last month, the first drop in core prices in more than a quarter-century.
* Fed sees economic woes persisting into next year
* Business Leaders Say Next Year Could Bring Economic Rebound
Some Chicago-area business leaders say the nation’s financial crisis could rebound as soon as next year. And, they say the Chicago region will fare better than other parts of the U.S.
* Sara Lee Announces Plant Closing
The South Side plant closing means about 185 workers will lose their jobs within the next three months. The move comes as Sara Lee eliminates brands such as Best’s Kosher and Sinai Kosher. Mike Cummins is a spokesperson for Sara Lee. He says kosher meats aren’t as profitable for the company as its other products.
* Lean economic times mean more at pantries
* Don’t let travel ruin your fowl mood
Experts predict 600,000 fewer people on the roads and in the skies this Thanksgiving season, but the drop in numbers doesn’t guarantee open highways or vacant airports.
* Hard times strain mental-health system
* Durbin gathering FutureGen supporters for renewed effort
* SJ-R Opinion: Bill to help coal study deserves Senate approval
* Pat Gauen goes back to the Illinois lottery
As a result, we have the scariest economic climate I can remember. Who among us will have their livelihoods shaken, and how badly, I cannot tell.
THAT is why I bought the lottery ticket.
* Expert: Half of retailers facing crisis in 2009
Retail analyst Britt Beemer forecasted Wednesday that half of today’s retailers will be in big trouble some time next year due to the country’s financial meltdown.
“I wouldn’t buy gift cards [this holiday],” he said in an interview following an appearance before a Conference Board-sponsored seminar in Chicago.
Sears and Kmart could disappear next year, and Macy’s faces a difficult future, said Beemer, CEO and founder of America’s Research Group.
* Rockford buses will run — at least through end of the year
* The golden ticket
The struggle over Metra parking has become a growing problem in other suburbs, too, as commuter train traffic has increased. Commuters also wait years for parking permits in Lisle, Tinley Park and Downers Grove, among others. In Chicago’s northern suburbs, many officials said they don’t issue parking permits—all spaces are first come, first served. Still, many said their commuter parking lots fill as early as 7:30 a.m. weekdays.
* Ads for ‘Grand Theft Auto IV’ reappear on CTA buses
* Life in the HOT lane
Will HOT lanes solve the Chicago region’s traffic woes? We’re not sold, though we’d like to be. The metro area keeps outgrowing its highway system, and it’s not a problem that can be addressed indefinitely by building more roads or adding more lanes. We need transportation alternatives that will reduce the number of cars on the roads. Fewer cars mean lower emissions, also a good thing.
* Congress Consults Sheriff Dart On Foreclosures
* Budget proposal a hit
* City Council passes Daley’s 2009 budget
* Chicago aldermen approve $6 bil budget
* Aldermen Bemoan Painful Cuts But Okay Daley’s Budget
* You’ll pay more as city services are cut back
* Cook Co. board not buying $260 million “scare tactic”
* Stroger foes decry borrowing idea, unpaid bills
* Senate sends lead-warning bill to governor
* House passes ‘Drew Peterson law’
* State law allows hearsay evidence from murder victims
- Anon - Thursday, Nov 20, 08 @ 9:33 am:
Anyone see this coming on the airport expanstion? Oh, I love Chicago!
On the Sara Lee plant closing, I’d like to give a reason for the spokeperon’s claim that their “kosher business” isn’t as profitable as other lines. There is a key reason for this. Best’s and Sinai long ago lost their reputation as being clearly kosher. While they used the term on their labels, most who keep kosher would not eat Best’s or Sinai. The certification as kosher was not viewed as reliable by most. Hence, lower profits. Sara Lee never took steps to raise its standards so that it could expand its business.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Thursday, Nov 20, 08 @ 9:46 am:
If the airlines find a viable substitute or bio-blend for Jet Fuel A in the next 50 years, the airline business should be OK over the long haul. I don’t see a serious challenge to the airlines from other modes except in a few selected markets where high speed rail is viable. The ORD expansion is still a viable project, but it might take 20 years longer than expected unless Olympic ca$h is factored in. Slightly off-topic, I haven’t heard a peep about the South Suburban Airport in a while…is Triple J laying low on it in this down market?
- Phil Collins - Thursday, Nov 20, 08 @ 11:32 am:
Chicago has many types of sales taxes. Some of
them can be avoided, by conducting business in other towns. These taxes are the automatic amusement device tax, cigarette tax, employers’ expense tax, home rule municipal retailers’ occupation tax, hotel accommodation tax, liquor tax, motor fuel tax, motor vehicle lessor tax, municipal automobile renting occupation tax, municipal automobile renting use tax, municipal hotel operators’ occupation tax, off-track betting tax and admission fee, parking tax, personal property lease transaction tax, restaurant and other places for eating tax, soft drink tax, and vehicle fuel tax. If you think that the Chicago government receives enough of your money, please avoid the taxes by conducting more business in suburbs.
- Plutocrat03 - Thursday, Nov 20, 08 @ 12:24 pm:
The airlines are stressed beyond belief. It would seem rational to delay any further expansion of the insider laden airport construction.
I bet the cost could be cut 30% if the politicians and their patrons were cut out of the profits.
- Anon - Thursday, Nov 20, 08 @ 2:11 pm:
Appeals court says administration must release the subpoenas –
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/blagojevich/1290927,blagojevich-federal-subpoenas-112008.article
- Captain America - Thursday, Nov 20, 08 @ 2:47 pm:
UA and American - it’s not nice to upset the omnipotent and omniscient Czar Daley. It’s so un-Chicagoan to stand up to a tyrant. Beware of bulldzoers and watch your backs!
I think the real problem is that the airlines want the public/taxpayers to pay rather than the users - more corporate welfare undopubtedly is the airline’s hidden agenda.
I am a major supporter of O’Hare expansion, as well as a third airport. Airport expansion appears to be vital to the future of Chicago as a national hub and a world class city. I’m with the Chicago Tribune/ local business community on this issue. i’ll be interested in reading the Tribune’s next editorial on the subject of O’Hare.
The airlines may be right that the timing is bad. On the other hand, the price tag will go up by billions if the next phase of construction is delayed significantly. A big capital project like O’Hare would stimulate the regional economy.
- Truthful James - Thursday, Nov 20, 08 @ 3:39 pm:
There are not enough lanes on Illinois expressways and tollways to have a dedicated HOTLane.
The use of such lanes should be based on traffic movement or on revenue raising. They are not meant to act as a punishment for car users for their sin of not using METRA.