* Hate crimes in Chicago plateau in 2008 after sharp drop in last decade

* Illinois Poverty News Weekly

* ‘Shovel-ready’ jobs in need of stimulus

New bike lanes, reduction of CTA slow zones, and sidewalk and curb ramp improvements are all non-highway projects that could be funded by the $850 billion economic stimulus bill before the U.S. House. […]

The stimulus bill, intended to create jobs, currently contains $40 billion for transportation — with $30 billion for highways, city projects and non-highway transportation enhancements, and $10 billion for transit.

* A never-ending fight to fix roads

Winter weather, funding cuts taking a big toll on Chicago’s thoroughfares

* Asphalt the winner for most Illinois roads, But concrete lasts longer

The cost to construct one lane mile of an asphalt-topped arterial street averages about $200,000, according to IDOT.

The cost to build one lane mile of a concrete expressway ranges from $285,000 to $400,000, IDOT said.

Costs in both categories vary depending on numerous factors, including the local price of materials near the work site, officials said.

Last year, IDOT spent more than $27 million patching and resurfacing roads in the Chicago area. The Illinois tollway spends about

* Green-collar economy taking root in Chicago

* Green revolution taking root in 1st Ward

* Holding pattern

O’Hare, annually neck-and-neck with Hartsfield-Jackson for the title of world’s busiest, could be poised to take over the top spot as airlines threaten to shift flights from Atlanta’s airport due to a possible increase in fees

* Sun-Times Media shareholders support board revamp

Most of Sun-Times Media Group Inc.’s board, including its chief executive officer, are set to be replaced after one of the media company’s largest shareholders said it gathered enough support from fellow investors to force a change.

* J.P. Morgan Chase to close 57 local WaMu branches

* Ill. factory lays off 26 percent of work force

A railroad repair company in an Illinois suburb of St. Louis says it’s been hit by the automobile industry’s decline and must lay off 31 workers.

* U. of I. endowment plummets $400M

* City drops satellite dish tax

Daley quietly introduced a repeal this past week of the ordinance tied to his 2009 budget requiring satellite customers to pay the 9 percent amusement tax that applies to monthly cable TV bills.

To get around a federal law that appears to ban cities from taxing direct-broadcast satellite services, Daley wanted to require DirecTV and Dish Network to give the city’s Revenue Department the name, address and phone number of all of their Chicago subscribers so the city could do the billing.

Customer billing information would have been due by Aug. 15 each year — unless DirectTV and Dish volunteered to “collect and remit” the tax itself to the city. The companies also would have been required to warn subscribers they were “liable for the amusement tax” and “may receive a separate bill from the city.”

* ‘Smart card’ letters are in the mail: RTA

* The fight to keep judges safe

Security concerns at the federal courthouse in Chicago and at Cook County’s courthouses have prompted a crackdown on people who might pose a threat to judges, prosecutors and other public officials.

* Crack down on people who pose threats to judges

* Police investigate ’suspicious package’ to Daley

* City boss demoted for leaving window open

A $108,732-a-year superintendent in Chicago’s Streets and Sanitation Department has been suspended for 15 days without pay and reassigned for allegedly leaving an office window open during subzero temperatures, triggering a flood that caused damage estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars .

* Local election filing open

* Mayor races shaping up in Northwest suburbs

* First day of filing sees a couple big mayoral races in Kane County