* Study Finds Inequities at Clinics Serving Minorities

Health clinics with a large percentage of minority patients tend to be more chaotic, have less equipment and more stressed-out doctors. That’s according to new research from the medical school at Loyola University.

* Illinois’ health insurance option of last resort

* Latino clergy standing up to Daley - They want Hispanics to get bigger slice of City Hall pie

Strangely enough, De Jesus says he has no complaint with the mayor himself, whom he calls his “good friend.”

“My quarrel is with the people under him,” said De Jesus, who says the mayor phoned him in advance about the news conference and agreed to meet with the clergy group at a date to be determined. No food, of course.

De Jesus said he’s not sure these unnamed underlings are carrying out the mayor’s wishes.

“I can’t believe every demotion comes before the mayor,” he said.

He might be surprised.

* Effort to trim Cook County’s proposed $3 billion budget stalls

A proposal to cut $84.4 million from Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s 2009 budget proposal failed to win approval Monday, leaving commissioners at loggerheads just 19 days before the Feb. 28 deadline to approve the spending plan.

The proposed cuts, backed by Republicans and Finance Committee Chairman John Daley (D-Chicago), would have gone a long way toward balancing the proposed $3 billion budget, which is out of whack because most commissioners don’t support Stroger’s plan to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for operating expenses.

Daley, typically a Stroger supporter, said he will abstain from voting on the borrowing plan because of business and family conflicts involving companies involved in Stroger’s proposed bond deal. When it was suggested Monday that the companies could be changed, Daley announced he would vote no in that case.

* EPA: Oil spill probe to begin after cleanup

* UC hospital plans layoffs

The University of Chicago Medical Center says the tough economy is forcing it to eliminate 450 jobs. And hundreds are to be cut through attrition.

It’s all part of a $100 million cost-cutting plan recently announced by the South Side hospital.

* Elgin spending $100K to go green

Elgin leaders on Wednesday are expected to sign off on a $100,000 deal for a consultant to review ways to make the city more sustainable.

* O’Hare remains worst for on-time departures

* It’s back to Illinois 53’s future

After years of relative calm, a decades-old debate is about to erupt again in Lake County over whether Illinois Highway 53 should be extended roughly 15 miles through the heart of the county.

* Sen. Durbin Recommends Callahan

* Illinois investigates defense costs in death penalty case

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office said Monday it is investigating whether the state was overbilled for defense costs in the Jason Smith death penalty trial in St. Clair County.

* 30 months in prison for state government theft