* Bob Greenlee, who took over as deputy governor when Sheila Nix resigned last summer, kinda sorta hints at some near-term budget action on issues like drug and alcohol treatment programs…
* Illinois isn’t the only state that’s closing historical sites…
In all, 14 of Ohio’s 58 historic sites will be closed the week of March 28. […]
The Arizona Historical Society has closed the research library at its museum in Tempe and sharply reduced hours at the research library in Tucson.
In most states, budget directors and legislators have said that tax increases are not likely. A notable exception is California, where Mr. Schwarzenegger is seeking a 1.5-point increase to the state’s 6.25-percent sales tax, although he is unlikely to get the necessary approval of Republican legislators.
In Oregon, moreover, Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat, has proposed a $1 billion economic stimulus plan centered on infrastructure improvements, which he envisions would be paid for by raising the state’s gas tax by 2 cents per gallon and increasing a host of vehicle fees.
Mayor Daley and organized labor have reached an agreement that could dramatically reduce the 929 layoffs needed to solve Chicago’s worst budget crisis in a generation, City Hall sources said Monday.
Union leaders have agreed to work-rule changes to reduce the city’s overtime costs, the soures said. They have also agreed to drop their opposition to a partial shutdown of city government around the holidays.
In exchange, Daley has agreed to offer cash incentives — at least $5,000 and as high as $15,000 — for members of Laborers Local 1001 to induce retirements by eligible union members.
“We have 433 eligible people in the Laborers pension fund. We’re hoping around 60 will take advantage of it,” Lou Phillips, business manager of Laborers Local 1001, said Monday.
* The governor’s (and many others’) preferred Chicago Cubs owner has been hit with insider trading allegations…
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed insider trading charges against Mark Cuban, the outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks, for allegedly dumping shares in Mamma.com upon learning it was raising money in a private offering (full text of complaint).
* The “Rahm Emanuel doesn’t pay property taxes” Internet hoax has jumped the ocean and landed in Switzerland. Oy. Translated text is here.
* Lots of news companies (including myself) use Twitter to promote their stories, but I found this one from WGN to be unbelievably tasteless…
WGN is on CNN.com: 3 students drown in Fox River (scroll down under the “Midwest” section)
A state law passed after five Oswego teenagers died in an alcohol-related car crash last year has led to driver’s-license suspensions for more than 3,000 underage drinkers this year, but experts give it mixed reviews because of disparities in enforcement. […]
Lake County leads the state in license suspensions with 370 from Jan. 1 through Oct. 15, followed by DuPage County at 358 and McHenry County with 230. Will County had 76. Only 60 license suspensions were reported in Cook County, according to the state. […]
The law says people under age 21 will lose their driving privileges if they are found guilty or granted court supervision for violating laws regarding consumption, possession or purchase of alcohol “regardless of whether a vehicle was involved.” The suspension is three months for first offenders.
* Larry’s nightmare pick for US Senate: Blair Hull.
* Scott Reeder’s latest column includes an item about which pets would be most compatible with some Illinois politicos…
– Dick Durbin: A golden retriever because they are friendly, loyal and smart.
– George Ryan: An English bulldog, they look grumpy but are sweethearts and they are loyal — sometimes to those undeserving of it.
– Rod Blagojevich: A Rottweiler because a rotte digs in its heels and refuses to let go of whatever is in its teeth, no matter how senseless or worthless such action may be.
* The Question: Which pets should Illinois politicians choose for themselves? Explain fully.
Proponents of an Illinois constitutional amendment to restrict marriage to heterosexuals, buoyed by voter approval in three states on Nov. 4, say they’re gearing up to try again in 2010.
A group called Protect Marriage Illinois fell short of collecting the needed 270,000 signatures, which is 8 percent of the number of people who voted for governor during the last election, in time to get an advisory measure on Illinois’ fall ballot. The proposal called for amending the state’s constitution to declare “the union of one man and one woman in marriage shall be the only agreement recognized as a marriage or similar union for any purpose.”
Unlike California’s Proposition 8, this would only be an advisory referendum, which isn’t made very clear in the article. The groups failed to get enough signatures in 2006 and 2008, but they’re apparently not giving up.
There has been chatter online about using the issue as a wedge to drive African-Americans away from Democrats, since the majority of blacks voted for the gay marriage ban in California. But with a black man from Illinois in the White House, I doubt very much that idea will work all that well here.
Thousands of gay-marriage advocates took to the streets of downtown Chicago on Saturday, hoping to galvanize support and pressure the courts to overturn the passage of a same-sex marriage ban in California.
Organized on the Internet by the group Join the Impact, the rally was one of at least 150 protests planned nationwide after the vote on Proposition 8 in California, which defined marriage as being between a man and a woman.
In Chicago, protesters gathered at Federal Plaza, carrying rainbow-colored flags and signs saying “Fix Marriage, Not Gays” and “Repeal Proposition 8.” Organizers said they hoped to achieve “full marriage equality” in Illinois.
* With President-Elect Barack Obama’s resignation from the US Senate yesterday, the elbowing to be chosen as his replacement has kicked up a few notches. Our guy Bill may not be the frontrunner to replace Obama in the US Senate, but he has no skeletons in his closet, unlike some of the other hopefuls…
Congressman Danny Davis says he wants to replace Barack Obama as the junior senator from Illinois. The Democrat’s declaration came at a news conference in Chicago on Sunday. That’s the same day President-elect Obama stepped down from the position with two years left in his term. A coalition of black Illinois politicians endorsed the 67-year-old Davis at the event. Davis is also black.
In 2004, Davis was met with national controversy when he crowned the Rev. Sun Myung Moon in a religious ceremony at the Dirksen Senate Office Building honoring the controversial spiritual leader. Moon declared himself the Messiah at the crowning ceremony, in which Davis appeared on the invitation as a sponsoring co-chair. Davis wore white gloves and carried the crown on a pillow to crown Moon and his wife “the King and Queen of Peace.”
* The interesting thing about a governor with horrificly bad poll numbers is that people have begun asking why he has so much power. Roeper…
Giving the governor of Illinois the absolute authority to select the next U.S. senator from our state is only slightly more logical than granting the mayor of Chicago the power to make the first-round draft selection for the Bears.
In both scenarios, it’s a case of “Why does THAT guy get to make THAT pick?”
* Carol Marin makes a point that I’ve made time and time again…
Whoever gets this job will only serve two years before the next election. Who, in their right mind, thinks bearing the label of Blagojevich’s designated hitter will help them win then?
* Ryan Keith has a pretty good roundup of the budget problems faced by the state..
State senators didn’t take any budget action last week. Lawmakers don’t predict major breakthroughs when both the House and Senate return Wednesday for the second week of the fall veto session. They’re working on other priorities, such as electing new leaders and handling bills left unresolved this summer.
But while they dither, the budget appears to be collapsing, and the Governor Who Cried Wolf far too many times is finding it harder to convince people that the situation is as bad as it may be…
Some even question whether the governor is exaggerating cuts now to turn the tables on legislators.
“I think there’s a lot of people who have been suspicious of that since day one,” said Sen. John Sullivan, D-Rushville.
Part of the problem is the guv closed a bunch of state parks to save just $2 million. That’s essentially a rounding error on a rounding error. None of the governor’s own pet projects were cut. The really big stuff, like Medicaid expansion, was untouched. Others must feel pain. Not him.
* And more bad budget news could be coming if Attorney General Lisa Madigan sticks her nose into the 10th casino auction…
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has concerns about a new casino proposal in Rosemont. Several years ago, Madigan linked the village’s bid for a casino with organized crime.
The infamous Emerald Casino in Rosemont never was built. But now, its license is up for grabs. And once again, Rosemont is one of three towns where it could land. Robyn Ziegler is a spokesperson for the attorney general.
Ziegler: The attorney general has raised extensive concerns about Rosemont in the past, and as the Illinois Gaming Board scrutinizes the bids, the attorney general expects that they will, in the most transparent way possible, fully explain to the public how they’re addressing those concerns.
Internal Gaming Board documents at the time showed that investigators were almost as worried about a casino in neighboring Des Plains, because the Rosemont guys could almost walk over to the other site and get their fingers in the pie. But AG Madigan has never uttered a peep about that site. Her detractors say Madigan worked hard against Rosemont and stayed silent about Des Plaines because Neil Bluhm, the Des Plaines boat developer wannabe, is also a big campaign contributor.
If the Gaming Board chooses the Rosemont site (the developers are willing to pay far more money than anyone else) and AG Madigan intervenes, that $435 million being offered up for the site will probably not make it into the budget in time for the end of this fiscal year, causing even more pain.
It’s something that hasn’t been felt in the local steel industry since the 1980s: layoffs. U.S. Steel is laying off 675 union workers in the United States and Canada, or about 3-percent of its North America workforce. Fifty-eight of those employees worked in Gary.
The financial crisis is forcing many Chicago-area hospitals to delay expansions or pay more for them, putting the brakes on a decade-long building boom.
Diabetes and the illnesses related to it are killing more people in the Third World than AIDS.
If the numbers continue on their current pace, no health system in the world will be able to handle the consequences, according to experts in the field. Not even health systems in the wealthiest nations, no matter how efficient or advanced.
Last spring, the Lead Poisoning Prevention Act—requiring manufacturers to attach a label to any product used by children that has more than a trace amount of lead—passed the Illinois House with near unanimity, 105-1. The Senate? That chamber never got around to bringing the bill to a vote. It remained stuck in the Rules Committee.
Until Wednesday. On the first day of the November veto session, the bill was voted out of both the Senate’s Rules Committee and its Public Health Committee. It’s expected to come to a floor vote before the veto session concludes this week.
The prize is who gets to provide public transportation for suburban residents to O’Hare International Airport, and some of that needed public transport north and south between suburbs.
Thirty dollars is the median price for daily parking in downtown Chicago — up 20 percent, from $25, since 2005, according to the authoritative Colliers International parking-rate survey.
Monthly and “early-bird” rates also have gone up — with the monthly unreserved rate climbing from a median of $289 in 2005 to $310 this year.
Prices will get even higher in 2009, if the City Council passes a proposed 75-cent increase in the city parking tax for fees of more than $12.
