* Witness: Daley backers rewarded with jobs

A federal prosecutor drew a direct connection between illicit political hiring and Mayor Daley in a City Hall corruption trial Thursday, asking a key witness whether city hirees were also the mayor’s most loyal and hardest-working political supporters.

Former Streets and Sanitation Department personnel director Jack Drumgould agreed that they were, testifying in the trial of former Commissioner Al Sanchez.

* Illinois led nation in layoffs last week

Illinois had the nation’s highest jump in the number of people filing new unemployment claims last week, up by 3,791 claims, or almost 14 percent.

The increase ran counter to the national trend for the week, in which the U.S. as a whole saw 5 percent fewer people laid off and seeking unemployment benefits.

* More details on CTA stimulus request: Lots of maintenance, renewal programs

* Employee cuts rock WLUP, WKQX

Seven local employees, including WLUP-FM 97.9 midday host Erin Carman and sportscaster Bruce Wolf, were shown the door in parent Emmis Communications’ companywide 7.5-percent workforce reduction.

Everyone is trying to make do with less, and Indianapolis-based Emmis expects its remaining staff to join it in doing so. All those not under contract, including folks at Chicago’s WLUP-FM and WKQX-FM 101.1, will have their pay cut by 5 percent beginning Monday.

* University of Chicago cuts budget as endowment falls 30 percent

* Boeing union rejects contract offer, votes against authorizing strike

* Overpass collapsed, ‘mess’ expected for rush-hour commuters

* IDOT on Top of Things - Breakdown of Highways and Bridges Stimulus $$$ - Some Districts Get the Shaft: Capital Bill a Must

* South Suburban “Shovel Ready” Projects

* Illinois Gets $500 Million for Transportation

Illinois is getting some much needed cash from the stimulus package.

U.S. Transportation Secretary and Peoria native Ray LaHood announced Thursday Illinois will get just under 500 million dollars in public transportation funding.

The money comes from the $8.4 billion available throughout the country for mass transit.

* Black Chamber of Commerce wants stimulus dollars for businesses

* Calls to state’s child mental health hot line on the rise

An Illinois child mental health crises hot line received nearly 2,000 more calls this February than a year ago after three recent suicides of children under age 12 and a public warning issued to parents by three state agencies after the deaths, officials said.

Calls to the Crisis And Referral Entry Services hot line increased to 14,071 this year from 12,419 last February, said Kendall Marlowe, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. From 2000 to 2007, the number of suicides of children between the ages of 10 and 17 has ranged from 15 to 36 each year, state figures show.

* City budget headed for ‘the sewer’

Nose-diving revenues have forced Chicago’s 2009 budget at least $10 million deeper into the hole — to a gap of well over $60.5 million — turning up the heat for more layoffs and union concessions.

* Tracking your tax dollars: Cook County, get with the program

* Dart: Craigslist Takes Prostitution ‘to a New Level’

* Cook County sheriff sues Craigslist over sex ads

* Online sex-for-hire popular in the Southland

* Barrington Hills mayor, challenger spar over EJ&E, communication

* Oak Park homeless man’s ballot fight argued in court

* Hearing set for ‘medical marijuana club’ operator

* Chicago cop fired, another suspended

* Top cop must obey judge