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Morning Shorts: Extended Edition

Monday, Apr 27, 2009 - Posted by Mike Murray

Hey all. Hope your weekend was eventful. Rich is sick as a dog today and is taking the day off. So here is a long, and hopefully thorough, Round-Up of the weekend’s top stories.


Quinn Round-UP


Quinn took some heat over the weekend for predominately hiring his friends and colleagues since becoming governor. Also Quinn took some criticism for firing some Blago appointees,while allowing others to continue their work. These stories seemed news worthy enough to merit this additional distinction.

* New governor turns to old friends, colleagues. This article focuses on both issues raised above. First…

Since taking office Jan. 29 after Blagojevich’s impeachment, Quinn has made about 20 major staffing decisions, from the person who handles his daily schedule to the head of the Transportation Department.

Fifteen of the people he hired have previously worked for him, either in the lieutenant governor’s office or the treasurer’s office. Others are longtime friends or, in the case of new Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig, a state legislator Quinn has known for years. Only two could be considered unfamiliar to Quinn: general counsel Theodore Chung and state police director Jonathon Monken.

So far, Quinn has given most of the top jobs to white men.

Seven of his hires are women, racial minorities or both. They include Quinn’s general counsel and policy director, but most are in second-tier jobs such as deputy chief of staff or scheduler.

And also…

Despite his fierce criticism of Blagojevich, Quinn is making use of his predecessor’s personnel.

Jack Lavin, head of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity under Blagojevich, has been named chief operating officer under Quinn. Another DCEO executive under Blagojevich has been promoted to run the agency, and most other agencies still are being run by the people Blagojevich appointed.

Quinn also is taking advice from two of the architects of the Blagojevich budgets that helped destroy the state’s financial health. John Filan, Blagojevich’s former budget director, is a longtime Quinn friend who is advising the new governor. And Blagojevich’s last budget director, Ginger Ostro, has kept her job under Quinn.

He defended using Blagojevich’s budget team, saying they weren’t the ones setting policy.

* Blagojevich hires suited him

Christopher Corcoran eventually took Blagojevich up on the offer, but his lucky break turned sour late last week when new Gov. Pat Quinn fired him and several other holdovers from the last administration. Another victim of the political purge was a friend of Patricia Blagojevich.

But the man who handled both of the Blagojevich hires is still working for the state. Jack Lavin, a former agency director under Blagojevich, was promoted by his longtime friend Quinn to be the state’s chief operating officer.

Maher-Salzman said she believes she was fired because the Quinn administration thought her previous relationship with the ex-first lady could be embarrassing. Her bosses knew she had spoken to a Tribune reporter about her job and her relationship with the former first family, she said Friday.

“It feels like scapegoating,” she said. “What exactly does that mean that they are going in a different direction when I was fighting for equality for women in business?”

* IDOT personnel manager fired

The Associated Press has learned that an Illinois Department of Transportation administrator who was among a dozen employees to receive hefty raises in the final weeks of the Blagojevich administration has been fired.

* Midnight raises should be investigated


Here are the Rest of the Quinn Stories

* Will Gov. Quinn run to keep job? ‘Yeah,’ he says

* Is anybody listening?

Dozens of others, though, filed complaints with Swanson’s office. But Voight couldn’t get anywhere, either. So on Thursday, Swanson sent a letter — including more than 70 pages of documentation — to Gov. Pat Quinn, acting Tollway Director Michael King and tollway Inspector General Tracy Smith. To make sure they got the message, she helpfully copied it to the media.

The letter asked the tollway to stop mailing tickets to Minnesotans until it can ensure that its system relies on vehicle registration data that is up-to-date, to rescind the tickets issued to Minnesotans who can show they didn’t commit the violation, and to name a liaison to work with her office on behalf of Minnesotans. She asked it to instruct its collection agency to lay off those bogus threats about getting Minnesotans’ licenses suspended.

* Work isn’t over with reopening of historic sites

The Legislature recently approved a $1.6 million supplemental appropriation for the historic sites which is allowing them to reopen.

But that money is only good through the end of the fiscal year, June 30. Gov. Pat Quinn and lawmakers are still working on the Fiscal Year 2010 budget.

* Gov. Quinn backs project to green 3 schools

Gov. Pat Quinn backed a project on Friday to retrofit three Illinois public schools to make them greener buildings.

Work on each school is expected to cost between $35,000 and $40,000 and could include improving school ventilation, increasing the use of outdoor light and better landscaping, said Joseph Clair, chairman of the local Chicago chapter.


Blago: the Gift that Keeps on Giving for the Media

* Blagojevich still looking for TV stardom

* Blago goes Hollywood

On Friday, Illinois’ ex-governor was filmed suspended in midair, flying before a giant green screen.

Blagojevich was in Los Angeles Friday promoting “I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here,” an NBC reality TV show that a judge said he couldn’t join. That’s because the series will be filmed in Costa Rica and the charged ex-governor cannot leave the country due to bond restrictions. But on Friday, Blagojevich’s PR agent released a statement saying that actor Stephen Baldwin was willing to fly to Chicago and ask a judge to “Leggo my Blago.” (Or, ask U.S. District Judge James Zagel’s permission to go to Costa Rica.)

“I would love for Blagojevich to be on the show,” Baldwin said in a statement. “He would add intensity and spice.”

* Blagojevich Promotes Reality Show He Can’t Be On

* The Blago beat

Not! Although embattled former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was in L.A. on Friday promoting the “Survivor'’-type reality TV show he can’t join, he has no paying gigs lined up.

* Blago: Legal predicament `sucks and it’s scary.’

* PJStar: Blagojevich needs honest reality, not the TV kind

* Blagojevich’s next trick, wearing his bathrobe to court?

It would appear that this man, who just a few months ago was in charge of America’s fifth largest state, has been reduced to little more than a cheap stunt artist.

* Leonard Pitts: Rod is hardly a ‘celebrity’

* Bernard Schoenburg: ‘Pay to Play’ a fascinating read

You can tell by the title that it’s not a book of his creation. “Pay to Play: How Rod Blagojevich Turned Political Corruption into a National Sideshow,” is the quickly produced book by ELIZABETH BRACKETT, who got a leave of absence from the PBS station in Chicago, WTTW, to do the writing. She is also a longtime correspondent for “The NewsHour with JIM LEHRER.”

* Spinoff of Reality Rod is thriving over at Second City


Constitutional Officers in the News

* Keep business in public eye

We wonder how many investigations the Illinois attorney general has to do before Roscoe officials understand that village government isn’t a make-it-up-as-you-go-along thing. It belongs to the people.


IL Congressional Delegation


First, here are stories regarding 2010 Congressional Hopefuls

* Will He Run On Empty?

If embattled Illinois Sen. Roland Burris hopes to hold onto his seat in the 2010 election, he’s off to a rocky start. According to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission, Burris raised just $845 from January to March for a potential campaign. That’s a staggeringly low amount by Washington standards, where the average expenditures in a U.S. Senate race in 2008 was more than $8 million. By comparison, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who filled Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s vacated seat, raised $2.3 million over the same period toward her 2010 race.

What’s going on with Burris? “Fundraising was just not on his radar,” Delmarie Cobb, Burris’s political adviser, tells NEWSWEEK. Indeed, Burris remains under a legal cloud because of his ties to ousted Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, who faces federal corruption charges, including allegations that he tried to sell the Senate seat once held by President Obama. Burris, who was appointed to the seat by Blagojevich late last year and had to fight his way through the front door on Capitol Hill, has denied any wrongdoing but is under investigation by both Illinois officials and the Senate ethics committee. On his FEC filing, Burris reported more than $111,000 in debt—money owed largely to strategists he hired to help him win the Senate appointment. According to Cobb, Burris’s legal bills top $400,000, and under Senate rules he is not allowed to use campaign funds to pay them. He has asked the Senate for permission to organize a legal defense fund, but the request has yet to be approved.

* Schakowsky for Senate?

Rep. Jan Schakowsky is stepping up her interest in running for the Senate in 2010 — a poll she took shows her in good shape to win a Democratic primary over Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and Sen. Roland Burris.

Schakowsky told me Sunday she will decide by June 8 whether she will run for the Senate or another term in the House. “The next part is the gut check,” she said.

* IL-10 Dance Card Filling up Quickly, At Least for the Dems

As we have been reporting for some time now, the race for the Tenth Congressional District in Illinois has already gotten very interesting, mostly because 5th term incumbent Congressman Mark Kirk has been flirting with running for either U.S. Senate or perhaps even governor. Kirk’s decision on what to do is expected by the end of this week, but meanwhile a bunch of Dems are already lining up in hope and anticipation (did I mention hope?) that they could run for an open seat and not have to face Kirk. We’ve already told you about State Senators Michael Bond and Susan Garrett, and of course, there always seems to be perennial candidate Dan Seals lurking in the background.

However, the up-and-coming bloggers at LakeCountyEye uncovered yet another stealth candidate on the Dem side, a Highland Park Attorney named Elliot Richardson.


Here are the Remaining Congressional Stories

* Congressman’s Campaign Funds Raise Eyebrows

Luis Gutiérrez chairs a House subcommittee that oversees consumer credit. He’s taking the lead on a payday-lending reform bill.

It’s softer than what he’s proposed in the past. That has irritated some consumer groups.

A study by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington found Gutiérrez 11th among Congressional recipients of campaign donations from the payday-loan industry. The study says Gutiérrez accepted $18,500 dollars from the industry during the last election cycle.

* Halvorson speaks on women in politics, the airport, energy

* Paying 27 percent on a credit card

“I’ve talked to people about the potential impact of a credit crisis, and while some experts believe it could happen, others seem to think that even if it does it won’t have as big of an impact on the economy because the loans aren’t for as much money,” said U.S. Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-3rd), of Western Springs. “But I worry that some banks may now be in such bad shape that it wouldn’t take as much to tip them over.”

Lipinski supports a credit card bill of rights that recently passed out of a House committee. While he said it’s unlikely that Congress ever would set a ceiling on credit card interest rates, there are some things it can do to help consumers.


GA Round-UP


Existing Tensions between IL GOP and Sen. Lauzen over SB 600 have Spilled over into the 2010 Campaign Discussion. (The story below first deals with the 2010 campaign and then discusses general tensions over SB 600. I divide the block quotes for copy right purposes.)

* Illinois GOP leader critical of Lauzen

Illinois’ Republican national committeeman said that state Sen. Chris Lauzen of Aurora should “take a deep look” to see if he wants to say in the GOP and shouldn’t make another bid for Congress in the far west suburbs.

Pat Brady, who last summer became Republican National Committeeman from Illinois to replace the controversial Bob Kjellander, also said he expected a GOP primary contest next year for nomination to the 14th Congressional District seat won last year by freshman Democrat Bill Foster of Geneva.

And on SB 600…

Brady’s comments reflected the continued effort by top Republicans to counter a push by Lauzen to change the way that the GOP selects its top governing panel with balloting by primary voters rather than selection among the party leadership. Top GOP officials have threatened to file suit if Lauzen’s bill becomes law.

Lauzen, who is receiving Democratic help in moving the governing change through the legislature, has attacked leading GOP opponents as “domineering parasites” and “self-serving, officious, lying, arrogant thugs.”

Lauzen is “someone I think that needs to take a deep look and see if he still wants to be in the Republican Party,” said Brady, who is from St. Charles and lives in the 14th Congressional District.


Sen. Syverson Bucks Local Officials from his District over Proposed Capital Projects

* Morrissey, Syverson split on West State plan

Mayor Larry Morrissey spent Wednesday and Thursday lobbying House Speaker Mike Madigan, Gov. Pat Quinn and others to consider the city’s infrastructure priorities in the upcoming budget and proposed, $26 billion capital plan. For years, dating back before Morrissey’s administration, the city has sought state and federal money to improve and beautify the main arteries that bring people into town. If the capital dollars are to be spent according to population, Rockford and Winnebago County deserve about $500 million, Morrissey said.

A key corridor is West State Street. It is without doubt the most forlorn of the city’s gateways. Mayor Ben Schleicher lived on West State. The neighborhoods on both sides of the street began deteriorating in the late 1960s, when the Fairgrounds Valley housing project was built and the middle class headed to the east side, the northwest side and to Winnebago.

The West State plan is supported by the Rockford-Winnebago County Better Roads Association, but there’s one problem: State Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, is not on board. Syverson is a persistent critic of the project because of its price tag: Morrissey estimates it will cost $36 million.

“I could do 10 projects for what they want to spend on West State,” Syverson said when we talked at the State of Winnebago County luncheon on April 16. In the past, Syverson has told me that spending so much money in that neighborhood isn’t a wise use of taxpayers’ money.


Crestwood Fallout Prompts the GA to Take Action, also Related Crestwood Stories

* Illinois to plug holes in water pollution law

In response to the Tribune’s investigation, Quinn and others vowed last week to ensure that state and local officials follow through on the intent of the law. They also are moving to make it a felony to mislead the public about the source of its water.

“You would expect them to tell their constituents what’s in the water they’re drinking,” said Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago), who sponsored the right-to-know measure. “If we need to amend the law to make it clear people should be notified, that’s what we’ll do.”

* Woman’s pursuit of truth admirable in water scandal

It should not have taken a dogged mother years of work to uncover what appears to be intentional abuse of Crestwood’s water supply. But Tricia Krause’s tireless work should be recognized as a true public service.

The crux of what was done with Crestwood’s drinking water supply for 20 years is so banal that it takes reflection to realize how stupid and preposterous and perhaps even evil it was.

The village was told by state officials in 1986 that its well was polluted by cancer-causing dry-cleaning solvents. But Crestwood continued to send the well water to its 11,000 residents for 20 years.

* Crestwood toxic well: Mayor tells upset Crestwood residents that village water is safe

* Well-known attorney may take case

A Naperville environmental attorney who won a $10 million settlement in 2002 on behalf of 186 Lisle families with contaminated drinking water is considering taking the case in Crestwood.

Shawn Collins, who lives in the Will County portion of Naperville, said about 50 current and former Crestwood residents have asked him to investigate their cases. Some have family members who died of cancer. They want answers.


Pending Legislation and Related Stories, Policy Based Editorials, and GA Members in the News

* Legalize civil unions

* A Very Civil Editorial (Written by Rep. Fritchey)

Nothing in HB2234 requires anybody to approve of homosexual couples if they choose not to. Rightfully, nothing in the bill imposes any requirements or restrictions upon any religious institutions or entities. Rather, in a modern-day version of the civil rights struggles of the 60’s, the bill simply extends equal legal rights to a class of people that some people would prefer didn’t have those rights. The bill should be passed. Now.

* Stacking the deck on gay marriage

Oh, Iowa can provide recognition to gay marriages under all its laws and policies. But that’s a surprisingly small part of what marriage encompasses. Under federal law, there are more than 1,100 rights and privileges that go with being a husband or wife. And none of them is available to married same-sex couples.

* Medical marijuana should be an option for the seriously ill

* Lawmakers take aim at drug-resistant staph bacteria

* Illinois lawmakers giving up on trying to soften the smoking ban

* No salary increase for state legislators

That’s what House Republicans tried to do last week. Their attempt to get the measure voted on immediately was rebuffed by Democrats (save for three, including Jack Franks of Marengo). Democrats complained that the Republicans were trying to short-circuit the process. They weren’t going to allow that, no sir.

See, voters don’t care about the maneuvering that takes place in Springfield. They care about results. Democrats should have realized that. That is, if they are seriously planning to vote down the automatic salary increase to their $67,833 a year salary. (Leaders make close to $100,000)

State Rep. Paul Froehlich, a Schaumburg Democrat, quickly e-mailed staff writer Dan Carden after Carden wrote about the failed move by Republicans.

“… When a bill does come up for an actual up or down vote, all the Democrats from my area will be sponsors of the bill and will cast enthusiastic yes votes,” Froehlich said.

* PJStar: Give bill rejecting state lawmakers’ raises a vote

* Charter-school cap, safety measures top lawmaker’s talk

Illinois has a self-imposed cap limit of 60 charter schools: 30 in Chicago, 15 in the Chicago suburbs and 15 in the rest of the state.

Rockford recently had three charter proposals approved by the Illinois State Board of Education, and two more are pending. Only five more charter licenses remain for the state. School Board member David Kelley said he would like to see the state raise the cap, if not remove it.

Kelley was one of 10 people to voice their thoughts Friday to State Rep. Chuck Jefferson, D-Rockford, during Jefferson’s advisory Education and Public Safety committee meetings held in the Zeke Giorgi Building.


IL Ethics Reform


First, here is Rich’s South Town Star Column from Today

* Lobbying reform can have unintended consequences

B y far, the most ironic aspect of this entire post-Rod Blagojevich push to reform Illinois has to be the last paragraph of Gov. Pat Quinn’s much-praised reform commission report.

“All constitutional officers should issue executive orders, comparable to George Ryan’s Executive Order No. 2 (1999), prohibiting their campaign funds from accepting contributions from state employees under their control.”

Former Gov. Ryan issued that executive order because his crooked campaign fundraising operation at his old secretary of state’s office had triggered a federal corruption probe and he was looking for some political cover. That investigation, of course, eventually put Ryan in prison.

Gov. Quinn’s reform commission chairman Pat Collins - who presided over the insertion of that rare Ryan praise into the commission report - was the chief prosecutor at Ryan’s trial. Ryan’s executive order didn’t prevent Collins’ feds from also convicting his campaign committee.

A few years before he issued that order, Ryan pushed through widely hailed reforms of the state’s lobbyist registration and disclosure laws in the run-up to his successful 1994 re-election campaign against noted reformer… Pat Quinn. Several of Ryan’s lobbyist pals got caught up in his federal prosecution.

The irony just never stops in this state.

The lesson from this ought to be that passing new laws, no matter how enlightened and reasonable and strict, will not stop the bad guys from being bad guys. They are what they are. George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich are living proof of that hard-and-fast law of the universe.

Obviously, though, we’ve got a real problem here in Illinois, and some changes have to be made. But making those changes - and making sure they actually work and don’t break something else in the process - isn’t nearly as easy as the newspaper editorial boards and some of the reformers always make it sound.

For instance, last week, some members of the governor’s reform commission testified to the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Government Reform. The focus of the testimony was the commission’s proposal to revamp state procurement laws.

Stories are legion of how Blagojevich and his goons shook down state contractors for campaign contributions. Besides the really hinky stuff, they allegedly did things like delay final contract decisions to at least make it appear as though a contractor might not get the job and then put the arm on nervous and otherwise honest business people. Those who had won new contracts reportedly received phone calls from campaign higher-ups demanding tribute, with the implication that this might be the last contract they ever got.

See, you don’t always need to steer a contract toward somebody to make out like a bandit. You just have to make it look like you can give it to someone else.

That’s a big reason why the state needs a far more open, transparent and fair contracting system. If the system looks and feels clean to contractors and the state employees who run it, the goons will have a tougher time gaming it.

The problem is getting there without harming the underlying system.

The governor’s reform commission found out last week that while their ideas might address one problem, they could make another problem worse.

Their proposal to centralize and insulate procurement directors was hammered by one business consultant as a waste of money and effort because it could exacerbate the far more pressing problems of bottlenecks and gross inefficiencies in the system itself. The further procurement officers get from the agencies, the less they may understand the urgency or importance of certain contracts. And because the state lets $7 billion in contracts every year, this is a hugely vital function of government that can’t be trifled with.

The reform commission’s proposal to headquarter independent contract monitors in the auditor general’s office was thoroughly shot down by Auditor General Bill Holland, a man of unquestioned integrity. Holland said the plan would drag his office into policy-making, and that would directly contradict his constitutional role in the auditing process.

Holland also took a shot at the commission’s procurement centralization proposal by reminding everyone that Rod Blagojevich had once “reformed” the system by centralizing procurement officers under one roof.

“The process does not corrupt the process,” Holland said. “People corrupt the process.”

Still, it’s beyond clear that we need a new process here. Just keep your fingers crossed that the “fix” doesn’t break something else.


Here are the Rest of the Ethics Stories.

* Mike Lawrence: How much reform can lawmakers stomach?

* State ethics commission holds last public meeting at Morris Library

* Reform commission says computers, not hacks, should draw districts

* First, save the incumbents!

Who’ll win the right to set legislative boundaries after the 2010 federal census? This we know, little voter: It won’t be you. The cliché is a cliché because it’s maddeningly correct: In Illinois, lawmakers choose their constituents, not the other way around.

This isn’t criminal corruption of the types that ended our last two governorships. It is, though, a key reason we live in The Incumbent State. The power to map lets party leaders keep their Senate and House members in line.

In November’s election, incumbents got more than 75 percent of the vote in 25 of the 40 state Senate districts that were in contention, and 72 of the 118 House districts.

More than 75 percent of the vote. Because incumbents are beloved? No. Because Illinois gerrymandering — the drawing of districts for raw political gain — is a legalized protection racket. Who gets protected? Not you.

* Taking politics out of justice

There shouldn’t be. Let’s take the politics out of judicial elections. A non-partisan system of electing judges would go a long way toward eliminating the control that political parties have over the judiciary.

We would create a Judicial Evaluation Commission for each of those districts and circuits. Cook County, because of its size, would have a separate commission for each Supreme and Appellate seat.

The commissions would have eight members, two each appointed by the four legislative leaders of the Illinois General Assembly. The commissions would be equally balanced as to political party.

* Blagojevich, just the latest in a long line of corrupt Illinois politicians


Budget: Quinn’s Budget has Failed to Gain Momentum, and Though Quinn is Still an Ardent Supporter, his Income Tax -at the Moment- Appears to be Dead in the Water

* Few friends for Quinn’s budget

Then there are several budget ideas that were holdovers from the dreaded Blagojevich era, including an attempt to close several corporate loopholes. Quinn says they would generate $287 million for the state. Yet these concepts went nowhere in recent years. So, with less than 40 days to go before a May 31 deadline to get a budget in place, we can count a half-billion reasons why lawmakers remain far from hammering out anything close to a balanced budget.

* Quinn standing by state tax hike

Gov. Quinn says he’s willing to compromise to get a state budget, but he held firm Friday to his proposal to increase Illinois’ income tax rate even though lawmakers have indicated it doesn’t have the necessary support to pass.

With the clock ticking to get a new budget before the legislative session ends May 31, Quinn said backing off his proposed 50 percent increase in the income tax rate isn’t a good idea.

State Senate President John Cullerton, a fellow Chicago Democrat, has said there isn’t enough support for Quinn’s budget proposal as is. Senate GOP leader Christine Radogno wants to first consider budget cuts and government efficiencies.

Another GOP lawmaker, state Sen. Matt Murphy of Palatine said Friday he doesn’t think the Democratic lawmakers who control the General Assembly want to cut the budget to avoid an income tax increase.

* Gov. Pat Quinn Says Only One Option: Income Tax Hike

* Pension reforms, health-care costs key to state budget

* Mark Sanford: Don’t spend money we don’t have

These dangers are common to all states, but given the specific needs and differences of each state, why shouldn’t we also tailor the stimulus I am not fond of to our individual states? Why doesn’t it make sense to make lemonade out of the lemon that I believe the stimulus ultimately represents? Washington experts are wrong in suggesting that we just do as Washington says.

For these reasons, we’ve proposed taking about 10 percent and applying it to paying down our state’s high debt. If a prudent family won the lottery they wouldn’t spend every dime; they would set some aside to pay down the mortgage or credit cards — and to me there is nothing political about asking government to be just as prudent.


Economic Stories

* Buried in bills: Wages are down, costs are up

The cost of a typical auto insurance policy nationwide will jump 4 percent to $875 this year, on top of a 3 percent increase last year, according to the Insurance Information Institute, a trade group based in New York.

The average homeowner’s policy will jump 3 percent, to $841, according to institute data. And term life insurance rates are increasing 4 percent to 6 percent — worse for many others — after several years of declines.

Chicagoans are facing an average 8.7 percent increase in medical insurance premiums, according to Hewitt & Associates.

Illinois insurance shoppers are lucky because the state has one of the least-regulated environments in the country, insurance experts say. Illinois ranks No. 30 among the 50 states for average homeowner’s premiums, at $674 on average, and No. 28 in auto premiums, at $740 on average, according to data from 2006, the most recent available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. No such statistics were available for term life insurance.

* Health plans taking toll in cost, coverage: ‘I am stuck’

* 32% of U. of C. redirected patients are poor, uninsured

Nearly 7 percent of the patients cleared from the U. of C. emergency room and then transported and admitted to Mercy have no health insurance coverage, according to an eight-month period of data provided to the Tribune from U. of C., analyzing 396 patients. On top of that, 25 percent of patients transported by ambulance 5 miles north to Mercy were covered by the Medicaid health insurance program for the poor, which is known for paying hospitals low rates, particularly in Illinois.

At other Illinois hospitals, the number of uninsured and those covered by Medicaid is 26.4 percent, according to the most recent statistics from the state Department of Public Health. Of those, 3.7 percent are “charity patients” with no insurance, and 3.2 percent are “private pay,” who generally have no coverage or pay out of pocket. Medicaid covers 19.5 percent of admissions to Illinois hospitals, state figures show.

* When will Chicago area economy recover? Maybe by late 2012

The Chicago area isn’t expected to get back to peak employment until the third quarter of 2012.

“It’s a very big economy, and it’s taking big losses in areas like manufacturing and professional business services,” said Bob Tomarelli, associate economist with IHS Global Insight. “Those are going to need to rebound strong for Chicago to come back to where it was before the recession hit.”

He noted the professional and business services sector and manufacturing combined comprise about 23 percent of the area’s total employment.

* Home sales in Chicago area start to show more signs of life

Suburban counties seeing among the largest month-over-month sales increases were Lake County, 65 percent; Kendall County, 51 percent; and Cook County, 38 percent.

Realty agents are taking pains to not get too giddy. After all, that 38 percent one-month gain in sales in Cook County translated to 2,409 properties sold. In March 2008, 3,432 homes sold in Cook County.

* Worried about job market? Go ahead, buy that house

Layoff-insurance policies, which apparently were birthed in late winter in the car industry and spread to other commercial endeavors such as men’s clothing retailers, are starting to pile up in housing.

* Evicting the foreclosed: It’s a different ballgame

“One thing you always have to tell yourself: Never be judgmental. Never think, ‘This couldn’t happen to me,’ ” Vick said. “We have seen people who had great jobs. You do want to ask them, ‘What happened to you?’

“For the grace of God, it could be you or me. You’re working one day, the next day you’re not.”

* In a dead job market, unemployed bide their time in gyms

* The Daily Journal launching JobFinder search service on May 4

* Biden to Visit Chicago, Window Factory, Daleys

Vice President Joe Biden is coming to Chicago Monday. It’s his first trip to Illinois since the inauguration.

Biden will visit what’s become a symbol of America’s credit crunch: the former Republic Windows and Doors factory on Chicago’s North Side. Workers staged a sit-in there last fall, arguing for severance pay the company insisted it didn’t have. Now the factory’s got a new owner, and has hired back some of the workers. Biden will plug the reopening as a direct impact of spending from the federal stimulus plan.

* Argonne’s new director plans to focus on energy, recruiting top talent

* The last days of the war with O’Hare

* Changes in Bensenville, Elk Grove Village leave lawyer who has fought O’Hare expansion in limbo

Karaganis, the lead lawyer against the expansion, says he plans to keep fighting the war he has fought for more than 20 years, to keep airport pollution and construction from hurting the people in the western suburbs.

* Daily newspapers reinvent selves almost daily as economy, market forces press on them


City Hall

* Daley, parents speak out against gang violence

* Let’s slow the rush to privatization — a little

The city says it already briefs aldermen, but it’s clearly not doing enough.

We’re stuck with the city parking meter deal for 75 years.

Next time around, let’s do this right.

* Honorary street signs have gone too far: alderman

* Ron Huberman: Raising the bar on charter schools

“Drawing a line in the sand is a good way to describe it,'’ Huberman told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Charters have been touted as engines of innovation by President Obama and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Huberman’s predecessor as CPS chief. The schools were envisioned as a way to give public schools some of the freedoms private schools enjoy — such as avoiding teachers union work rules or certain public school policies — in exchange for “charters” agreeing to specific outcomes.

Yet four Chicago charters have fallen subject to federal rules about “restructuring,” the ultimate sanction under the No Child Left Behind law. In Illinois, restructuring can range from replacing staff to instituting a new, proven curriculum.

Also from the above article, here is a table with some interesting data

Percentage of schools that did not make “Adequate Yearly Progress” under the No Child Left Behind law:

CPS Chicago charter New York Los Angeles
At least 1 year 67 50 11 39
At least 5 years 42 32 0 0
Source: Illinois State board of Education data about Chicago Public Schools; New York City public schools; Los Angeles Unified public schools. 1-year percentages based on schools with 2008 tests; 5-year percentgages based on schools with 2004-2008 tests. Counts CPS charter schools with multiple campuses as one school

* More Chicago schools adopt year-round schedule

* Huberman Looks to Prevent Swine Flu in Chicago Schools

* No swine flu cases reported in Illinois

* CTA mulls safety shields for bus drivers

About 10 offenses occur each month in which bus drivers are the victims, according to CTA union officials.

About 500 of the CTA’s roughly 2,000 buses are equipped with the plastic shields made of Lexan, officials said. A decision is pending on whether to outfit all buses with the devices, which cost about $800 each to buy and install, officials said. So far, about $400,000 has been spent on the pilot project.

* Autism, police beating: After autistic boy’s beating, Chicago police superintendent waits for officers’ version of how autistic teen was bloodied

Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis asks public to not rush to judgment on officers

* Family claims Chicago police officer beat autistic teenager

* Art Institute’s new wing a modern test of the times

Millennium Park, however, is free, while the debut of the $283 million, 264,000-square-foot Modern Wing comes just a week before the Art Institute raises its general admission price from $12 to $18 — all while the country is mired in a deep recession, and museums nationwide are retrenching.

So the new Modern Wing — and, really, the new Art Institute, because everything is being reinstalled — presents a test case. Is this lavish offering, to be unveiled at a May 9 gala, a misreading of the times and people’s willingness to pay a premium to view great art in a stunning new building?


Stroger’s Troubles and Cook County Governance

* Dear Todd: A few words to the unwise

For taxpayers, the most important part of this story is that in a crushing economy, when just about everyone is feeling strapped, we still have the willful hiring of unqualified patronage workers at excellent wages on the whim of a politician who can’t be straight with us. Cole is hardly the only example of the Stroger “Friends and Family” employment plan. Remember Ronald Burleson, working at the East Bank Club, where the president plays basketball, who got a $99,000 health department job until the Trib reported it? Stroger was forced to demote him, but on “Chicago Tonight” he improbably added: “That doesn’t mean he wasn’t qualified.”

President Stroger would do well to consider the words of Cassius in Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”:

The fault, dear Todd, is not in our stars but in ourselves.

* Felon In Stroger Hiring Scandal Got Free Housing

* Daley suggests Stroger explain patronage scandal

* Suffering Suffredin

Geovanis, trying her best to put some positive spin on an unspinable situation, tried to engage Suffredin in a point-counterpoint debate, but Suffredin would have none of it.

“I don’t talk to the hired help,” said Suffredin, walking off.

At best, the comment could be viewed as a frustrated Suffredin refusing to let Stroger shift accountability to his minions (whose statements can always later be denied by Stroger).

At worst, though, the comment — which was captured on multiple television cameras — will come back to haunt him during campaign season as an elitist indication of his true opinion of the working stiffs he claims to champion.

* Cook County’s overtime time bomb

If Joseph Lafata were to retire anytime soon from his job as a maintenance supervisor with the Cook County Highway Department, he’d have a nice cushion to take with him into retirement: a $60,000 payout for more than 1,000 overtime hours that he has accumulated — hours that, in theory, he’s supposed to take as paid time off.

County highway workers have amassed mountains of what’s called “time-off overtime” — TOOT, for short — a Chicago Sun-Times review of county records shows, with Lafata piling up more overtime than anyone else.


Other News Worthy Stories

* Bulls Outlast Celtics for Game 4 Win

* Sun-Times staffers win 9 Lisagors for journalism

* Jackson plans Iran trip to seek release

The Rev. Jesse Jackson is heading to New York this week in an attempt to secure visas to Iran so he can seek the release of journalist Roxana Saberi. Jackson hopes to travel to Iran with some journalism students from Northwestern, Saberi’s alma mater.

* I-55 traffic stop yields 237 pounds of cocaine

Authorities say approximately 237 pounds of cocaine were found during a traffic stop on Interstate 55 in central Illinois.

The drugs are worth between $2.1 million and $3.7 million.

* Braidwood nuclear plant unit back in service

* Peoria County climbs toxic rankings

Community ranks 14th nationally with 35.3 million pounds of toxic chemicals

But the high ranking is primarily due to the Peoria Disposal Co. hazardous waste landfill near Pottstown. It accounts for nearly 25 million pounds of the 35.3 million pounds the county contributed to the TRI list.

* Grant to bring new technology to local 911; Southern Illinois to serve as pilot program

Several Southern Illinois counties were chosen to participate in the launch of the nationwide pilot program aimed at testing advancements in the methods for which dispatchers can receive 911 calls and information, including text messaging, picture messaging and streaming video.

“You can get a lot more information to a dispatch center than you previously could,” Felty said. “You can take a picture of a house fire and see it is more than just smoke and pass that along to your responders. This generation of young adults’ and children’s world is surrounded by text messaging.”

The project will be funded through the National Emergency Number Association, through partners with Next Generation 911 and will include a $600,000 federal grant.

  45 Comments      


Reader comments closed for the weekend

Friday, Apr 24, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Shutting ‘er down a bit early today so I can get on with the weekend. Hope yours is as fun as mine’s gonna be.

* I agree with several commenters that this is probably the best song for today, but the original has that “bad” word in it, so I had to find an edited version. This ain’t bad at all, however…


I’m the innocent bystander

  Comments Off      


Friday afternoon campaign roundup *** UPDATED x1 ***

Friday, Apr 24, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

*** UPDATE *** I didn’t even know he had an exploratory committee. I guess he thinks it went well, though. From an e-mail forwarded by a reader…

Statement by Robert L. Zadek, Republican Candidate for the United States Senate Illinois

Zadek Announces his candidacy for US Senate.

Rockford, IL (April 24, 2009) — “Several months ago, I began an informal exploration of a run for the United States Senate from Illinois. That informal exploration began with meetings with citizens and activists across the state. I attended many events across the state as well speaking to people and confirming the need and desires of the people for fundamental change in Illinois and our nation.”

Can’t you just feel the Z-mentum building?

[ *** End of Update *** ]

* This e-mail just arrived in inboxes throughout the state…

Breaking News!

This morning, Chicago Sun-Times columnist, Rich Miller, reported the findings of a scientific poll pitting Pat Quinn against Lisa Madigan in a hypothetical Democratic Gubernatorial Primary. The poll asked Chicagoans who they would vote for; and, across the board, Lisa is the clear favorite. […]

While Lisa continues to contemplate her future in public service, please show her your support. Send her a clear message right now with a contribution of $25, $50, or $100 and let Lisa know that you support her too!

Doesn’t sound like an attorney general candidate to me.

* Gov. Quinn is taking some heat on hiring

So far, Quinn has given most of the top jobs to white men.
Seven of his hires are women, racial minorities or both. They include Quinn’s general counsel and policy director, but most are in second-tier jobs such as deputy chief of staff or scheduler.

The Illinois Association of Minorities in Government calls it “a huge concern” that women and minorities haven’t been more prominent among Quinn’s appointments.

“Minorities across this state have a lot of experience, and we think that experience should be reflected in his administration,” said Jonathan Lackland, the association’s executive director. “Those are individuals who can come in and help him see things differently.”
Quinn sounded pained by the criticism.

“Well, I don’t know how they can say that if they take a look at the people I’ve brought in and intend to bring in,” he said.

* Patterson has a review of Rep. Jack Franks’ radio appearance this morning with Mancow Muller.

Muller asked Franks, who is an attorney, if Franks would represent him if Muller went on a parking meter vandalism spree in Chicago. Franks said yes. Muller blasted the city’s higher parking meter fees more than a dozen times during the show.

Franks did speak up to challenge show guest Gov. Pat Quinn to blow up the state budget in order to fix it. Rather than just continuing existing programs from year to year, Franks wants to start the entire budget at zero and rebuild it. Quinn was not persuaded.

But Franks was much quieter when Muller interviewed Kim Kardashian, who is mostly famous for being Kim Kardashian. She insisted that while she’s “a curvy girl,” she still wears a size 2.

Franks admitted he doesn’t know who Kardashian is.

Franks is floating his name for attorney general.

  35 Comments      


Question of the day

Friday, Apr 24, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* What music video would you like posted when comments are closed for the weekend later today?

I’ll make my decision based on the intensity of your nominations, not the number of nominations, so please explain fully.

  94 Comments      


He’ll never understand until he’s behind bars - and maybe not even then

Friday, Apr 24, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* This will be devastating

The former law school roommate, longtime friend and onetime chief of staff to Rod Blagojevich is now taking a new role against the former governor: federal witness.

While Lon Monk showed up in federal court Thursday to plead not guilty to a wire fraud charge, a federal prosecutor said a plea deal is due in short order.

Monk was one of Blagojevich’s closest confidants. You can put it on the board. Blagojevich is going away for a very long time.

* So, you think the Blagojevich show is a circus now? Just wait until these two gentlemen are fully on board with his legal defense team

Sam Adam Jr. and his father, veteran Chicago lawyer Sam Adam Sr., are in line to join attorney Sheldon Sorosky in the governor’s corner. The younger Adam aided Blagojevich during impeachment proceedings in Springfield, and the father and son advised him during his media blitz earlier this year.

“We’re assembling the team right now,” the younger Adam said Thursday. “I am honored to have been asked to represent the governor, and we’re going to fight.”

The younger Adam would bring the somewhat bombastic style he has become known for at Chicago’s Criminal Courts Building to the more mannered halls of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse. He may be best known for his fiery work on the team that won the acquittal of R&B superstar R. Kelly on child pornography charges last year.

The story notes that the two will join the team if Blagojevich’s federal judge allows them to tap Blagojevich’s campaign fund for legal fees. Adam Jr., however, said at least once that he would represent Blagojevich for free.

* And speaking of circuses

NBC executives have asked Patti Blagojevich to act in her husband’s stead and become a contestant on the reality show “I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!”

But a defense lawyer, who did not want to be named, said the couple will heed their attorneys’ warnings and not allow Patti to do the show. The attorney said the two were told: “They both should follow Judge [James] Zagel’s sage advice regarding Costa Rica.”

Actually, the judge’s advice was to take some time and think about his predicament. He’s obviously not listening

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich eagerly became a Hollywood high-flyer, but his hair paid the price.

During filming Thursday of a promotional spot for the NBC reality series “I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!” Blagojevich was strapped into a harness and hoisted in front of a blank “green screen” to simulate a parachute jump.

Wind machines mussed his famous mop of hair for the spot filmed at the Los Angeles County Arboretum, standing in for the Costa Rican jungle.

Video of the moron…


* Related…

* Being gov and reality are similar, ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich says

* Stephen Baldwin Joins ‘Celebrity,’ and Blago May Not Be Gone Yet

* I’m a taxpayer … please get me out of here

* Blagojevich Editorial Cartoons

* Blagojevich’s ex-chief of staff pleads not guilty

  49 Comments      


Pay raises and tax hikes

Friday, Apr 24, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* This story is missing a major component

Elected officials are on track to get a 3 percent raise next year, and lawmakers passed on an opportunity Wednesday to vote on skipping pay raises.

State Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville, used a parliamentary maneuver to have the matter considered. Black said lawmakers should not be getting any raises on the heels of a probable income tax increase and at a time when the statewide unemployment rate is nearing 10 percent. […]

While Republicans in the House tried to get Black’s measure out of committee, all but three Democrats voted to keep it there. Unless the matter is revisited, the pay raise will take effect.

In reality, the bill was only just introduced Wednesday - weeks after the deadline to pass House bills over to the Senate. It was a purely political move. Had the HGOPs introduced the legislation earlier, it might’ve had a better chance. It was nothing more than a stunt, which is why you didn’t see much reporting on it.

* This is an understatement

Senate President John Cullerton said Thursday that Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposal, which includes a tax increase, program cuts and budget maneuvers, does not have enough support in the Senate.

Patterson has more Cullerton quotes

“I think [legislators] would have to focus on what the alternatives would be. I think if they really see what wouldn’t get funded … it would help of course if the public knew what the state government does. We have a problem in Chicago particularly where the media doesn’t cover state government like the downstate media does. And as a result, not only are the constituents not as informed, but the legislators aren’t as informed. And so when I go to the editorial boards, I’ve been to Champaign, Carbondale, Peoria … the editorial boards are very well informed about the state government and so are the constituents and the legislators.

“But in the Chicago media market, which is 80 percent of the state, people don’t know who we are or what we do. They just say, ‘cut the waste and reform the ethics.’ That’s fine but there’s $22 billion that we spend on school districts and nursing homes and hospitals and dentists. And they don’t want us to cut that.

“They want us to cut apparently the $6 billion that would be for the operation of state government. We could save $1.5 billion by not funding the prison system. That’d be one way of doing it. But we’d have to let all the prisoners out. And so that’s probably not a good idea. That’s the thing. We have to go through and educate people on what the state government really does.”

* There’s also growing worry at the Statehouse that Speaker Madigan doesn’t really care about passing a capital construction bill, as the AP hints

House Speaker Michael Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said he doesn’t know what kind of support Quinn has for an income tax increase in the House, but said it is going to take a lot of cooperation to iron out a budget that will help the deficit.

A construction bill could take a back seat to the state’s annual budget, which Quinn says needs an income tax increase to bail it out of a deepening financial hole.

* Related and semi-related…

* Lack of support for state tax hike

* Lawmaker: Construction projects should assist top unemployment areas

* Construction group: Pass state spending bill

* Illinois prisons seek medical cost savings

* A better way to watch our tax money

* Illinois Reform Commission aims to fix ‘corrupt’ system

* Chicago revitalization plan: Despite uncertainties, $15.5 billion proposal for downtown is moving forward

* Mayor Daley says aldermen irresponsible for suggesting tax cut as city revenues drop

* Daley Against Aldermen’s Stimulus Plan

* Mayor Daley: Ald. Howard Brookin’s quest for a Chatham Super Wal-Mart doesn’t stand a chance

* Daley: Wal-Mart has no chance in Chicago

* Alderman Supports Some Layoffs for City Workers

* The sheep are steamed

* Duncan’s successor at CPS faces on the job lessons

* End overcrowding in Latino schools

  10 Comments      


Claypool leads in Chicago in three-way race

Friday, Apr 24, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* More from those Chicago poll results

Some analysis from Progress Illinois…

The numbers here aren’t terribly surprising (though keep in mind that the poll was conducted before the Dunnings/Cole scandal). Preckwinkle and Stroger are splitting the African-American vote and lagging way behind Claypool among whites. The survey didn’t test second-choices, so it’s hard to guage how either Stroger or Preckwinkle would fare in a head-to-head match-up against Claypool.

Meanwhile, the Latino community has the highest number of undecideds. Among those Latinos who do favor a candidate, however, the breakdown is pretty interesting. Both Claypool and Preckwinkle are in the low- to middle-teens, while Stroger has nearly three times as much support.

I’d add more, but I already did this one for subscribers.

* Meanwhile, the aftermath of yesterday’s special county board meeting was more than a little chaotic

Stroger declined to answer reporters’ questions, which he typically does after board meetings, and security blocked access to commissioners’ offices routinely open to the news media.

When Commissioner Larry Suffredin (D-Evanston) told reporters that Stroger has created “a total lack of confidence in this government,” Stroger spokeswoman Chris Geovanis interrupted to accuse commissioners such as Suffredin of engaging in “a smear campaign for purely political reasons.”

* Related…

* Todd Stroger’s people knew. Did he?

* Cook County: Todd Stroger sticks by story about worker’s past

* Protecting Stroger

* Tony Cole’s Background Check at Center of County Hiring Controversy

* Demand For Answers In Stroger Hiring Scandal

* County CFO Resignation Causes Stir at Board Meeting

  8 Comments      


Madigan stomping Quinn in Chicago

Friday, Apr 24, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* First up, more results from that poll of Chicagoans we discussed yesterday. Attorney General Lisa Madigan has a big lead over Gov. Pat Quinn…

Those numbers include initially undecided voters who were then asked which way they were leaning.

* Mayor Daley, however, thinks quite highly of Gov. Quinn

“Pat Quinn has done a very good job so far,” Daley said. “I think he has the passion and the heart. He does. He has a soul.” […]

Asked if his effusive praise for Quinn amounted to an endorsement in 2010, Daley replied, “You just asked me how well he was doing, and I think he is working really hard.” […]

“You know, the thing I’ve always been impressed with — he’s gone to every funeral of every young man killed in Afghanistan in Iraq, no matter what part of the state,” said the mayor, whose son was in the military in Afghanistan. “He doesn’t do it for publicity. He is just thanking them. Very, very interesting.”

* But Quinn canceled a fundraising appearance in Rockford last night after over 100 protesters showed up…

Governor or not, they chanted outside the Radison hotel. With signs in hand, more then 100 educators protested against Governor Pat Quinn’s proposal for school funding.

* And my Sun-Times column today takes Quinn to task

There’s a program for doctors and hospitals called “Sorry Works.” The idea is to apologize to patients after medical mistakes are made and offer reasonable compensation. It’s not only the right thing to do, but it often helps avoid expensive malpractice lawsuits.

The Chicago Sun-Times editorialized in favor of the program in 2005 after the paper published an article showing the concept had seemed to cut legal actions in half against the University of Michigan Health System.

Anyway, this column isn’t about doctors. It’s about Gov. Pat Quinn.

Earlier this week, the governor was asked if he thought he should apologize for defending and even praising the now-indicted Rod Blagojevich, particularly during the 2006 gubernatorial campaign. At the time, he was running with Blagojevich as his lieutenant governor.

“No, I don’t think apologies are necessary,” Quinn said, adding that voters “do not want to look backwards.”

“They want to look forward, and that’s what I’ve tried to do in the last 12 weeks, find every way we can to open up our government and to have reform in every place in our government,” Quinn said.

In a way, he’s right. It most certainly is time to fix the many horrific problems Blagojevich created. We shouldn’t be overly fixated on the past.

But, we cannot turn a blind eye to the terrible mistakes that many of us made. If we don’t own up to our mistakes, how can we expect others to believe that we won’t avoid similar errors in the future?

I for one, was at times taken in by Rod Blagojevich. Usually, I was pretty circumspect, but I believed some of his stories about the trouble he was in and occasionally fell for his considerable charms.

So, just let me say right here and now, I sincerely apologize and I’ll try never to let that happen again.

I feel better now. You might want to try it, especially if you voted for Blagojevich, or believed his lying campaign ads, fell for his spin doctors’ lines or ever defended him during a conversation.

Go ahead. I’ll wait. Just say it out loud. “I’m sorry.”

See? Don’t you feel better?

And if doctors can avoid lawsuits by apologizing, Quinn might want to start thinking about how voters will react to his refusal to say, “I’m sorry.”

A new poll conducted by the widely used Democratic firm of Bennett, Petts & Normington shows Attorney General Lisa Madigan is already thumping Quinn 2-1 in a Democratic primary.

Five hundred Chicagoans were surveyed March 23-25 and the margin of error is 4.5 percentage points. The poll was conducted on behalf of the Service Employees International Union.

According to the poll, Madigan has 44 percent to 22 percent for Quinn. Add in those who are leaning toward one candidate or the other, and Madigan is ahead 48-24. About 28 percent were undecided. She’s way up in the African-American community as well, 51-23.

Madigan had $3.5 million in her campaign account at the end of last year and has since been on a fund-raising tear. That’s a whole lot of money to bash Quinn for trying to raise taxes and stubbornly refusing to apologize for praising Blagojevich.

Quinn had just $85,000 on hand last year and is about to hold his first major fund-raiser since being elevated to the governor’s office.

A recent poll taken by Rasmussen Reports had Quinn with a 61 percent job approval rating. But most — 44 percent — only “somewhat” approved. His numbers are soft and he’s vulnerable.

Sorry works, governor.

* Related…

* Gov: State will ‘overcome challenges’

* Watch replay of Quinn’s visit

* Health panel quackery

* Quinn won’t apologize for Blagojevich connections

* Quinn opens historic sites, says they’ll stay open

* Crowd helps Quinn reopen Dana-Thomas House

* Quinn touts aid for home updates during visit

* Gov. Quinn in Rockford for Earth Day

* Wind power: Homeowners, small businesses install turbines to cut long-term energy costs

* Even in the wild blue yonder, it’s up to us to go green

  31 Comments      


Bill Daley out of Senate race

Friday, Apr 24, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* No surprise at all

Former U.S. Commerce Secretary Bill Daley is opting off a political fast track.

• • To wit: Daley, the brother of Mayor Daley, told Sneed in February he planned to enter the U.S. Senate sweepstakes for the seat once held by President Obama, now held by the embattled Roland Burris.

• • It’s over: “I was gung-ho, and hired pollsters and talked to fund-raisers and planned to make an announcement in mid-April,” Daley told Sneed yesterday. “But I’m getting remarried in June and decided I want to take a new tack in my life. I just don’t want to live a commuter life back and forth from Washington.”

• • The China connection: Sneed also tipped March 25 that Daley may be getting his chopsticks ready — becoming the next U.S. ambassador to China, but has nixed that idea. “It’s true, there were serious discussions about China, but I recently decided, ‘No.’”

* Meanwhile, the Post-Dispatch looks at the Bright Start loss which might possibly haunt Democratic state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias’ race for US Senate…

Imagine your shock when, on opening your statement, you learn that your conservative, state-sponsored fund lost 38 percent of its value last year. If you’re astute enough to dig deeper, you learn the fund was using derivatives to increase its exposure to mortgage-backed securities.

Yes, even as the housing market was tanking, someone thought it was a good idea to make a risky, leveraged bet on mortgage bonds. And they did it with your kid’s college fund. […]

Illinois was the first state to react to the problems. On Dec. 4, it began directing new money into other investments instead of Oppenheimer Core Bond.

However, Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias announced that existing balances would remain in the Oppenheimer fund “to avoid locking in past performance declines.” That looks like a mistake: Core Bond has lost 3.2 percent since early December, compared with a positive return of 4.7 percent for a Bloomberg bond-fund index.

The piece concludes with a generally positive view of the Bright Start program, however.

* Incumbent US Sen. Roland Burris was recently endorsed by, um, this guy

Scott Baier, a 28-year-old former Mercer County [New Jersey] Republican Committeeman who was a Socialist Party candidate for State Assembly in 2005. His platform includes putting George W. Bush, Richard Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld on trial for war crimes, abolishing the U.S. Department of Defense, the nationalization of the media, legalization of all drugs, a constitutional amendment banning all guns, and a “total ban” on pornography.

* More campaign stuff…

* Democrats getting ready for 10th District run

* Dems looking at alternatives to Sen. Burris

* Burris Grills Hearing on Funds for Minority Businesses

  30 Comments      


Morning shorts

Friday, Apr 24, 2009 - Posted by Mike Murray

* Elk Grove Village drops legal challenge of O’Hare expansion

* Elk Grove Throws In The Towel

* Minnesota rips Illinois tollway about drivers it says were unfairly ticketed

* Minnesota Attorney General Asks Illinois Tollway to Hold Off on Tickets

* Minn. To Ill.: Stop Sending Tickets To Our Drivers

* Metro Chicago unemployment up to 9.3%

* City to use federal cash to buy, fix, sell foreclosed home

* Marketers, corporations offer to soften blow for unemployed

* Jewel to slash prices on groceries

* Which way are state, local economies likely to go?

* Empress’s icons come tumbling down

* Burned Joliet casino pavilion demolished

* PJSTAR: May shared gains follow the pain when Cat recovers

* Ford posts $1.4 billion 1Q loss, burns less cash

* Robberies on CTA trains, buses and L platforms rise sharply in 2009

* A Story About Potholes and What Can Be Done About Them

* Making the tough call to Fran Spielman, Sun-Times City Hall reporter who’s receving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Headline Club

* Chicago Marathon registration hits 45,000

* Blagojevich critic gets his turn at WLS mic

That will be an advantage, said a nervous state Rep. Jack Franks, a Marengo Democrat, who follows in the footsteps of impeached former Gov. Rod Blagojevich this morning by co-hosting a radio show on WLS-AM.

“I would not even be close on that one,” Franks said of a contest between Blagojevich’s famous do and Franks’ sometimes less than perfectly coifed silver mane.

Franks fills in from 9 to 11 a.m. for the vacationing Pat Cassidy on the “Mancow and Cassidy” show. While Franks has been on the radio many times during his decade as state representative, this morning he’ll be on the air with Erich “Mancow” Muller.

* Thousands of pigs killed in farm fire

* Bean calls for investigation into pharmaceuticals in drinking water

* Liberal group aims at Biggert

* Class-action lawsuit filed over water

* Crestwood no place for environmentalists

* Daley praises Maggie’s resolve in battle with cancer

  4 Comments      


Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax

Friday, Apr 24, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Blagojevich back on TV *** UPDATED WITH VIDEO & Press Release ***

Thursday, Apr 23, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

[Updated and bumped up]

* In case you care

Rod Blagojevich will appear on NBC’s ‘Today’ show Thursday morning, according to the PR firm that represents the former Illinois governor.

This is his first interview since a federal judge denied Blagojevich’s request to travel to Costa Rica for the upcoming NBC reality show ‘I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here’ that begins in June, says Glenn Selig, the former governor’s spokesman and founder of The Publicity Agency.

*** UPDATE 1 *** Video…

*** UPDATE 2 *** He just can’t let it go. From a press release

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich delivered a suprise during an appearance this morning on NBC’s ‘Today’ show by announcing he would be heading to L.A. to promote the upcoming reality program ‘I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here.’

Earlier this week, a federal judge in Chicago said he would not alter the former governor’s bond allowing him to travel to Costa Rica to participate in the show.

“He’s mindful and respectful of the court’s ruling that he can’t leave the country but we’re still exploring ways for him to be part of the show,” says Glenn Selig, Blagojevich’s publicist and founder of the PR firm, The Publicity Agency. “He wants to be supportive of the program.”

Selig declined to elaborate on the options being explored.

The former governor will attend a press event for NBC this Friday, April 24.

Blagojevich had hoped to earn a salary for appearing on the program that airs in June, in addition to raising money for his favorite charity.

Charity?

  56 Comments      


Lost in the mail?

Thursday, Apr 23, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I told subscribers about this early today…

A criminal background check at the heart of a growing controversy surrounding Cook County Board President Todd Stroger was completed long before Stroger has suggested, according to the Illinois State Police.

In interviews this week, Stroger said he fired troubled steakhouse busboy-turned-patronage-worker Tony Cole earlier this month for not disclosing a felony conviction on his job application. Stroger also said Cole’s criminal background check took several months to complete.

Today, State Police Lt. Scott Compton said the agency mailed background check results on Cole to Cook County on Dec. 20—nearly four months before Stroger fired Cole. (The Tribune called a different state police spokesman Monday but did not get a return call until today.)

Anyway, Stroger’s people never called me back, but they did call the Tribune today

Stroger spokesman James Ramos said today that the state police report was not received in December and suggested it could have been lost in the mail. Ramos said another request was made to state police and the agency faxed it to the county Feb. 11. Then on Apr. 2, the county inspector general issued a report on the matter. Within days, Cole was fired, he said.

So, now it’s the inspector general’s fault for the delay. Stroger’s Tony Cole story has been changed more times than a baby’s diaper. It’s just ridiculous how they can’t seem to get anything straight over there.

  26 Comments      


Question of the day

Thursday, Apr 23, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The setup

While the Chicago Tribune laid off more than 10 percent of its news staff Wednesday, the paper’s corporate overlords sought bankruptcy court approval of a plan to pay $13 million in bonuses to top managers.

Tribune Co., operating under Chapter 11, said in court documents that the bonuses are essential for executives who provided “extraordinary contributions during an exceptionally difficult year” in 2008. They would be shared by 700 managers throughout the company, excluding its 10 top officers. […]

Relying on findings from compensation consultant Mercer (U.S.) Inc., Tribune said that even with the awards, the executives would be paid 41 percent less than their market competitors. […]

Meanwhile, newsroom employees at the media giant’s flagship had their own morale issues as managers conducted the biggest one-day purge since real estate entrepreneur Sam Zell took over the company. The layoffs are a response to declines in advertising revenue, a fate shared by media companies across the country.

A partial list of the doomed

Business reporters Joshua Boak, Eric Benderoff and Susan Diesenhouse, and assistant editor Suzanne Cosgrove;

Breaking news reporter James P. Miller;

Photographers Candice C. Cusic, and David Trotman-Wilkins;

Assistant features editor and writer of the Tribune’s “Recession Diaries” blog Lou Carlozo; deputy editor Lilah Lohr, and reporter Robert K. Elder;

Schaumburg deputy bureau chief William Grady;

House and homes editor Elaine Matsushita;

Writer Elizabeth Botts;

Sports reporters John Mullin, Bob Sakamoto and Terry Bannon;

Sunday magazine editor Brenda Butler and reporters Jessica Reaves and Tom Hundley.

* The Question: Should Tribune Co. withdraw that bonus request? Explain fully, please.

  54 Comments      


Poll: Daley in the dumper

Thursday, Apr 23, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* A new citywide poll conducted on behalf of SEIU by the Democratic polling firm of Bennett, Petts, & Normington has some pretty awful results for Mayor Daley

The survey found that 41 percent of respondents give Daley an “excellent” or “good” job rating, while 58 percent give him “only fair” or “poor” marks. Here are the crosstabs, which show African-Americans and Latinos are particularly dissatisfied:

The poll also found that only a plurality - 47 percent - believe that Daley has “the best interests of Chicago at heart.” Yikes, man. PI has now run a correction…

This post originally stated that 47 percent of responds believe Daley has “the best interests of Chicago at heart.” In fact, that figure was 58 percent.

OK. Nevermind then.

* Chicago right track, wrong track

City council approval

Progress Illinois analysis

What’s fascinating is that, despite holding the collected aldermen in such low regard, 71 percent of respondents agreed that the “City Council should have a bigger role in how to spend the rainy day funds in Chicago,” referring to the estimated $2.1 billion in unobligated funds identified by SEIU’s researchers. The poll also found that 76 percent of respondents would like both the mayor and the City Council to “be in charge of how these funds are spent,” rather than just one or the other. This goes back to the strong agreement among 90 percent of the respondents that “Mayor Daley should be questioned because he is not always right.”

The take-away seems to be this: The public is giving the City Council a bad grade not because of what it’s doing, but because of what it’s failing to do (i.e. provide a counter-balance to the mayor).

Another striking finding: 91 percent of respondents agreed that it is “important to have a progressive voice at the table when important issues are being discussed in Chicago,” with 75 percent strongly agreeing. This suggests that the “progressive” brand is one worth embracing at the municipal level.

Discuss.

  54 Comments      


Campaign updates

Thursday, Apr 23, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Bond ramps up

State Sen. Michael Bond (D) is gearing up to run for Rep. Mark Kirk’s (R) seat, according to sources familiar with the situation. Kirk is pondering a bid for Senate in 2010, and his departure would make his north Chicagoland seat a prime pickup opportunity for Democrats.

Bond has tapped John Lapp to do his media campaign, Bennett, Petts & Normington to his polling and Ed Peavy to do direct mail for the race, according to one source familiar with the arrangement. The source also said a former aide to Rep. Melissa Bean (D), Brian Herman, will manage his campaign.

* I don’t know this guy, so maybe some of you can help fill me in…

As a deputy state treasurer, Peoria native Raja Krishnamoorthi was involved in administering billions of dollars in funds and tough ethics rules.

Now, he wants to maintain the state’s central fiscal accounts as comptroller.

Krishnamoorthi, 35, now of the Chicago suburbs, is exploring a run for state comptroller - assuming Democrat incumbent Dan Hynes does not seek re-election.

“My perspective is shaped in important ways by my time growing up in central Illinois and Peoria,” Krishnamoorthi said. “At the same time, having lived and worked in Chicago and now the suburbs, I feel like I have a broader perspective on some of the issues that confront the state, so I can view the different issues from different perspectives and angles, and that will help me in the decision-making process going forward.”

* Gentle push-back on Denny Hastert’s son

Ethan Hastert, a lawyer and son of former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives J. Dennis Hastert, has confirmed that he is considering a run for Congress. […]

However, Kenyon and Wiggins both said they wondered whether an entrance by Ethan into congressional politics at this time might be a little soon.

Both men questioned what impact his father’s political history might have on the younger Hastert’s aspirations. […]

“I want to win,” Kenyon said. “That’s the important thing to me. So I want the time to be right.”

* And CQPolitics rates Illinois’ 2010 Senate race “No clear favorite“…

Should he run, Burris faces a virtual certainty of serious Democratic primary competition. Democratic state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias plans to run. William Daley, who was Commerce secretary to President Bill Clinton and is a member of the prominent Chicago Democratic family, is weighing a campaign, as are several other Democrats.

Republicans have suffered a string of election defeats in now-strongly Democratic Illinois, including losses in nine of the past 10 Senate races. But the GOP has a shot at winning the seat, particularly if voters blame Democrats for the state’s political mess. Among the Republicans weighing the race is Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, a GOP moderate who is serving his fifth term in a pro-Obama district north of Chicago.

* Speaking of Burris

Sneed hears embattled U.S. Sen. Roland Burris, who’s been unpopular with his peers since accepting the job from former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is apparently having a hard time finding help.

• • To wit: Sneed is told Burris has placed job postings for interns with colleges throughout the state, including Loyola University Chicago and John Marshall Law School.

Sheesh.

* Another Shimkus frenzy

Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, is no friend of climate change legislation and he showed it [yesterday].

On the second day of a House hearing on the Waxman-Markey bill, which among other things would initiate a cap-and-trade system to regulate carbon emissions, Shimkus used his turn of questioning to rip the bill as downright destructive.

“I think this is the greatest assault on democracy and freedom that I’ve ever seen in Congress,” Shimkus said, adding that he’s presided over two wars and a terrorist attack. “I fear this more than all of the above activities that have happened.”

I doubt he’ll have much of an opponent next year, but he’s sure acting like it.

* Related…

* IL-10: Bond Gearing Up to Run

* State Senator Michael Bond the Latest Contender for Mark Kirk’s Not-Yet-Vacated Congressional Seat?

  55 Comments      


Tax hikes pushed, tax cuts demanded, guv picketed

Thursday, Apr 23, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Turnabout is fair play

Just a week after hundreds protested taxes at the Capitol, a larger group, including some suburban residents, turned out Wednesday to support higher taxes that’d prevent deep cuts to state programs.

The crowd, which organizers pegged at 1,500, was welcomed by Gov. Pat Quinn, who vowed to help working families and defended his plan to raise income taxes to help eliminate a deficit that’s grown to nearly $12.4 billion over three years.

But some of those people apparently haven’t gotten the message. Asking for a tax hike this year for a new program or increased spending other than capital projects is almost assuredly dead on arrival

More than 200 dentists came to Springfield to convince lawmakers a tax increase on drinks high in sugar would greatly increase funding for state-sponsored dental programs across the state. The dentists say an added 5 percent tax on such drinks would generate $94 million.

You can debate the merits of that tax hike if you’d like. I just don’t see it happening.

* In Chicago, a few aldermen are talking about tax and fee cuts

Specifically, ten City Council members led by Aldermen Brendan Reilly (42nd) and Tom Tunney (44th) want to:

* Waive the $3-per-car city parking tax on Saturdays and Sundays in the Central Business District.

* Phase out the $4-a-month employee head tax by lopping $1 off the hated tax in each of the next four years.

* Declare a moratorium on parking meter rate hikes tied to the 75-year lease of Chicago’s 36,000 parking meters until “pay-and-display” boxes are installed. Pay-and-display boxes take credit cards and are relatively free from the mechanical problems that have plagued the transition to a private contractor.

They also included “roll back the Cook County sales tax hike” in their plan, which they have zero control over, so one wonders about the “realness” of this as well.

* And Gov. Quinn will be picketed tonight by a teachers union…

More than 100 educators plan to protest education funding during Governor Pat Quinn’s stop in Rockford. […]

The protest is being organized by the Illinois Education Association. They’re upset because they say Quinn’s state budget proposal doesn’t do enough to balance education opportunities at all Illinois schools.

Discuss.

* Related…

* Rally Wants Better State Budget

* Tea Parties more like bad Republican infomercial

* A protest in need of a sane image

* Dentists seeking tax hike on soda, energy drinks

* Aldermen push own biz-friendly stimulus plan

* Chicago aldermen propose tax repeals

* National agency to state schools: Make college more affordable

* SIU officials trek to Springfield today

* $10.6 million in state budget for Triton

* More than just a welcome mat

  12 Comments      


Caps in the real world

Thursday, Apr 23, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Journalism

Imagine a rerun of Blagojevich’s 2006 re-election campaign, but this time under the tight donation caps [$2,400 individuals, $5,000 PACs] now being pushed by a blue-ribbon commission named by Gov. Pat Quinn. Even under that scenario, the analysis found, the Democratic incumbent would have enjoyed a nearly 3-1 fundraising edge over Republican challenger Judy Baar Topinka.

Blagojevich oversaw a fundraising juggernaut that raked in a state record $60 million in just eight years, including 454 separate gifts of at least $25,000. Plug in the commission’s proposed limits, and Blagojevich’s jackpot would shrink nearly in half, according to the analysis. But that’s still an impressive $34 million.

That’s just $6 million shy of the amount George Ryan raised throughout his entire political career.

Then again…

[Michael] Madigan’s state party has raised $25.5 million over the last eight years, but caps would have rolled that back by 69 percent to just under $8 million, the analysis showed. Since 2001, Madigan has used the state party to funnel $1.2 million to the coffers of his daughter, Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan. Caps would have trimmed that back to $100,000.

However, Madigan isn’t accused of doing anything illegal by any prosecutors.

* And, yes, bad guys do contribute campaign money

A large suburban management-consulting firm whose founder has been a major political donor was hit Tuesday with a wide-ranging deceptive business practices lawsuit from the Illinois Attorney General’s office. […]

[Attorney General Lisa Madigan], a potential 2010 contender for governor, accepted $22,700 in Burgess-linked campaign cash and in-kind services before becoming attorney general in 2003. She has not taken Burgess-related money since then and will not in the future, aides said. […]

Between 1999 and 2009, Burgess and entities tied to him contributed $679,933 to more than two dozen state campaign committees but saw $278,942 of that total returned as IPA’s legal problems deepened. Besides deceptive business practice allegations, IPA is fighting an EEOC class-action sexual-harassment lawsuit filed in 2001.

State campaign records show ex-Gov. Blagojevich was the largest recipient of Burgess-related cash, taking in $200,200 and another $15,000 through an affiliated campaign committee called Democratic Victory Fund. But all of those funds were returned.

The company’s contributions to Republican Rep. Sid Mathias became an issue in his campaign last year. Mathias won big.

* Related…

* State Pension Board Reforms Good First Step

* State panel approves pension boost for Blagojevich appointee

* Time to keep a scorecard on reform ideas: When the Quinn commission brought forth ideas on changes in government procurement, or how the state goes about securing goods and services, attorneys for the House and Senate Democratic leadership “closely questioned the reform commission about its procurement proposals, and an array of officials from state agencies testified that the commission’s ideas could cost the state time and money.”

  23 Comments      


Morning shorts

Thursday, Apr 23, 2009 - Posted by Mike Murray

Quinn & IL Goes Green

* Walking the Walk – Gov. Pat Quinn Leads by Example

* Quinn won’t apologize for Blagojevich connections

* Health panel quackery

Sometime in the coming months, the scandal-plagued, corruption-scarred, worse-than-useless Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board likely will cease to exist.

You can stop applauding. It’s not what you think: The board, which regulates hospital construction, isn’t being abolished, as this page has urged.

It’s just getting a new name — the Health Facilities and Services Review Board — if a proposal in the legislature passes and is signed by Gov. Pat Quinn. The board would add four more members (for a total of nine). And the board members, who have been unpaid, would get paid. (One good thing: That would be a government salary, not the pay-to-play shakedown schemes that tainted the board in the Rod Blagojevich era.)

This is progress? Not in our book.

* Illinois historic sites: 11 closed sites to reopen

Quinn, who replaced Blagojevich after he was thrown out of office in January, was more direct on April 15 when he ordered the sites reopened. He called Blagojevich’s decision to shut them a “huge blunder” that cost the state thousands of dollars in tourism.

Quinn, who is expected to preside over the sites’ grand reopenings from the Dana-Thomas House on Thursday, authorized half of $1.6 million in public works funding to pay for their openings and management through June 2010, Blanchette said.

* Illinois’ closed historic sites to reopen

* Four Southern Illinois historic sites reopen today

* Quinn calls for greener Illinois

* Earth Day: Quinn aims for greener governor’s mansion, tough standards

* Quinn orders agencies to cut waste, pollution

Gov. Pat Quinn marked Earth Day by ordering state agencies to cut waste and making the Governor’s Mansion more environmentally friendly, but he gave a cold shoulder to fighting pollution through Illinois taxes and regulations.

After signing an executive order Wednesday requiring state agencies to conserve energy and reduce pollution, Quinn said he remains opposed to raising gasoline taxes, even if that would encourage the use of more fuel-efficient cars.

* Gov expected to bring fund news

Mayor Larry Morrissey plans to fly back to Rockford Thursday with Gov. Pat Quinn after lobbying for state capital money for various infrastructure projects and federal stimulus funding for passenger rail service and green-technology development.

Quinn is expected to hold an afternoon news conference here Thursday to announce Rockford is receiving up to $7 million in weatherization grants over two years. The money, administered by the city’s Human Services Department, will make homes of low-income families more energy-efficient with new furnaces, windows and improved insulation.

“The governor understands that Rockford is pushing to be on the cutting edge of economic development opportunities and on the cutting edge of industrial and manufacturing opportunities,” Morrissey said. “We will talk about going green and going global.”

* Governor Dedicates Gob Nob Wind Turbine

* Blowing Green in Tazewell and Logan Counties

* Wind power convention shifts to Chicago

About 80 Illinois firms will be exhibiting at this year’s show, Ms. Bode said. The typical wind turbine has 8,000 components, such as gears and fasteners, and “Illinois is right in the middle of the manufacturing boom because they have this expertise.”

Illinois currently ranks eighth in the nation in wind energy production, she added, with about 915 megawatts of capacity, or enough to power more than 200,000 homes.

* Exelon to build largest U.S. urban solar power plant on Chicago’s South Side

ComEd parent Exelon Corp. plans to build the nation’s largest urban solar power plant on the city’s South Side by year’s end.

The $60 million project is expected to create about 200 temporary construction jobs and 10 to 15 permanent positions at the plant. The project is contingent upon Exelon getting a federal loan guarantee for up to 80 percent of its cost under the federal stimulus package that is doling out money for green jobs and emissions reductions.

The plant’s 32,800 solar panels would convert the sun’s rays into enough electricity to meet the annual energy requirements of 1,200 to 1,500 homes. It would eliminate about 31.2 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions a year, the equivalent of taking more than 2,500 cars off the road or planting more than 3,200 acres of forest, Exelon said.

* Illinois’ first hybrid school bus debuts to cheers

* Illinois producing less trash, recycling more


Blagojevich Round-UP

* Blagojevich on ‘Today’ this morning

* Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich still considering appearances on reality TV shows

* Bernard Schoenburg: Cellini doesn’t seem to have Blagojevich’s money woes


Constitutional Officers

* Fairmount Park’s future is in U.S. Supreme Court’s hands

The case of Empress Casino Joliet Corporation v. Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois State Treasurer is a case the Illinois Supreme Court ruled on last June that said the four largest casinos in the state must pay all Illinois race tracks money that had been held in an escrow account for two years. At the time, Fairmount was set to receive about 10 percent or about $7 million of a reported $70 million.

Half of that $7 million would be used to increase purses for the horsemen at Fairmount, while the other half would be spent by management for operations and capital improvements of the facility.

But lawyers for the casinos appealed the Illinois Supreme Court’s ruling last December to the U.S. Supreme Court. If the federal high court agrees to review the case, it could be a year or more before a ruling is issued, and a delay that long could doom the Collinsville facility.


Congress

* Englewood pride: Congressman Bobby Rush salutes Bulls’ Derrick Rose


GA

* State lawmakers getting raises despite move to block

* House Democrats block GOP bid to prevent lawmaker raises

* Illinois poised to expand gambling and entice losers

* Franks 
to co-host 
radio show

* Dan Brady asks public to attend town hall meeting on state budget


Capital Bill & Budget Stuff

* Springfield hears push for ‘human capital’

Despite the state’s financial crisis, State Rep. Karen Yarbrough (D-7th Dist.) contends state legislators understand the need for a capital bill.

“I don’t think you can find one person in Springfield that doesn’t want to pass a capital bill,” she said. “They know it is necessary.”

* Q-C business leaders push for projects in western Illinois

“Our message is really about the need for a capital bill,” said Rick Baker, president of the Illinois Quad-City Chamber of Commerce.

This trip was more pleasant than in years past because lawmakers are more willing to work with Quinn than ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Baker said.

“That lack of trust that existed between legislators and the governors office is gone, which gives us a lot of optimism for a capital budget,” he said.

* State owes Sandwich schools $1 million

* Ill. Obama license plate sales break record


Economy

* GM to shut most plants during summer months

* GM employees may get shutdown details this week

* Diageo Invests $20.2 Million to Expand Capacity at Illinois Plant as Ready-to-Serve Cocktails Grow

* Local governments expect to receive $14 million in stimulus funds

* We can make the South Side a model for health-care reform

Reese’s fate gives a sense of the vast health-care challenges in underserved areas like the South Side. Tight financial resources here can make it difficult to sustain advanced-care centers such as Reese and the University of Chicago Medical Center, where I work.

No single hospital will solve the South Side’s health disparities by working within its own four walls. And no center here can thrive without strong affiliations — that’s one lesson of Reese’s demise. But if we learn to trust one another and work together, we can help our patients and prevent more hospital lights from flickering out.

* Sun-Times Media Group names new advertising VP

* $200K helps keep StreetWise on streets

Donations totaling nearly $200,000 have given StreetWise and its magazine vendors something to shout about.

Bruce Crane, StreetWise’s executive director, said $195,000 raised in the past week is more than enough to keep the doors open for the rest of the year.

* Chicago’s StreetWise saved

* O’Hare radar: New radar activated for future runways, backup for primary system failure

* Express bus? Only if Sandra Bullock is driving

RTA’s own financial disposition fact sheet explains the transit system faced a $400 million structural deficit prior to the General Assembly’s sales tax hike. While the legislation also included a real estate transfer tax to sustain the RTA and its agencies, that revenue has been lower than anticipated.

RTA receives a total of $410.5 million annually. The money, however, is less than half of what is needed for one year just to maintain the current system and its maintenance needs, according to RTA.

The RTA estimates it needs $10 billion during the next five years to address crumbling infrastructure on trains and buses. It spends more than $50 million annually to operate outdated equipment. It is one of the oldest transit systems in the country.

And yet, express coach buses are under consideration? How about fixing the machines and improving the routes it currently operates?

* Use found for invasive Asian carp


City Hall and Stroger Round-Up

* Unions Asked to Ease Chicago Budget Trouble

When you stop and think about it, organized labor cannot give the city $350 million worth of concessions, because they’re not there. There (aren’t) enough adjustments that we can do to ease their budgetary woes.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, union leaders have been warned that 1,600 workers could lose their jobs if a new agreement isn’t reached. That’s on top of the 420 union employees the city has already laid off.

* City Council to rule again on Wal-Mart in Chicago

As promised, Ald. Howard Brookins (21st) introduced an amended redevelopment agreement at Wednesday’s Council meeting that would allow Wal-Mart to build its second Chicago store - and first “supercenter'’ that sells groceries - at a former Chatham industrial site at 83rd and Stewart.

Brookins’ decision puts the City Council back on the hot seat with labor unions, which opposed allowing Wal-Mart to open in the city. But Brookins sloughed off the suggestion that he’s putting his colleagues between a rock and a hard place.

“This economy has put us between a rock and a hard place….People really need jobs….The only people who appear to have money in this economy are Wal-Mart and McDonald’s. They’re the only stores that are expanding,” the alderman said.

He added, “Midway [Airport] didn’t get sold. The city’s facing a significant deficit. We need all the revenue we can find so we can avoid laying off workers.”

* Chicago parking meters: City Council belatedly questions deal that privatized parking meters

Less than five months after the Chicago City Council quickly and overwhelmingly approved the deal, aldermen buffeted by public complaints pushed a slew of ordinances Wednesday targeting the $1.2 billion lease of Chicago’s parking meters to a private company.

One measure calls for hearings to examine the deal, which ushered in dramatic rate hikes at 36,000 meters across the city. Another would halt rate increases until all meters are uprooted and replaced with “pay and display” equipment allowing motorists to pay with credit cards and place tickets on their dashboards. Yet a third would require a 30-day waiting period before aldermen could approve any plan to privatize city assets.

* Aldermen Demand Review Of Large City Asset Sales

* Chicago Schools CEO Wants Classes Year-Round

* Teachers Union Hesitant to Support Year-Round Classes

* Number of year-round schools expected to double

The number of Chicago Public Schools operating on a year-round schedule is expected to more than double following a vote today by the Board of Education.

Schools CEO Ron Huberman said the 132 schools that will start the 2009-10 school year on the so-called “Track E” — which replaces the traditional 10-week summer break with shorter breaks interspersed throughout the calendar year — are designed to prevent students from losing information over an extended summer break.

* 1 in 4 grade schools going year-round

* Maggie Daley, wife of Mayor Richard M. Daley, awaits results of bone biopsy

* Maggie Daley: Mayor’s wife undergoes biopsy

* At City Hall, this reporter can’t be beat

Just last year, Fran produced more than 600 bylined stories from City Hall, and I can tell you her great frustration was that — in an era of shrinking newspapers — there wasn’t room for hundreds more she wanted to write.

On a typical day, Fran will propose six stories, settle with the editors on three or four for which there is space, then write four or five anyway. Nowadays, the stories that previously wound up on the cutting-room floor are published on the Web site, suntimes.com, which only partly placates her.

Nobody fences with Mayor Daley more than Fran Spielman — nobody.

* Stroger unfit to govern

* Cook County Republicans join growing chorus for Todd Stroger to Resign

* Stroger hires Magee for Forest Preserve

* Cook County political scandal: Judge increases bail for fired worker hired by Todd Stroger

* Fired county employee Tony Cole cursed out probation officers

“Basically, he was cursing us out and [saying] to leave him the “f - - - alone,” Ponder said. “He also said ‘I’m not coming down the f - - - - - - stairs.’ ”

Cole’s attorney Peter Bormes questioned why his client was checked on 76 times over 64 days.

Cook County Circuit Judge James P. Murphy said it appeared to be 66 times and that on eight occasions Cole couldn’t be found.

According to the county’s adult probation office, officers made 45 home visits and phoned Cole 29 times between Jan. 30 and his mid-April arrest, acting Chief Probation Officer Jesus Reyes said. His records show Cole couldn’t be found on four occasions.

* Ex-Cook county employee to remain in jail


Other Interesting Tid Bits

* College of DuPage: Lame-duck board votes to extend president’s contract

College of DuPage President Robert Breuder said he won’t reject a three-year contract extension approved by trustees last week amid a torrent of controversy and protests in a packed-to-capacity meeting.

“Your contract was for 42 months, giving you plenty of time to show that you are worth the big bucks,” Debbie Fulks, of the community-based group DuPage United, said to Breuder. “Extending your contract is a dirty trick by a lame-duck board that the voters have kicked out of office. Do we really need to bring shenanigans worthy of [former Gov. Rod] Blagojevich to DuPage?”

* Bad water, bad officials in Crestwood

* DuPage board member’s fundraiser raises some eyebrows

* Free lunch? Not on taxpayer’s dime, please

* Zounds, let thee speaketh like … Elmer Fudd?

* Eberts donate $1 million to U of I

* Witness in Chicago hiring fraud trial takes leave after DUI arrest

* Guard who abused inmate in Sweden got job at Illinois prison, authorities say

* Duckworth confirmed to federal post

  7 Comments      


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