Morning shorts
Thursday, Jun 11, 2009 - Posted by Mike Murray
* Towns scramble for revenue as tax receipts fall
* Executive explains reasons for Ameren’s rate-hike request
* Smoke could be clearing for casinos
Revenues for Illinois’ nine casinos fell by 9.3 percent from January through March of this year compared with the first quarter of 2008, the American Gaming Association reported.
That rate of decline was the third-worst among the 12 states that have casino gambling, trailing industry leaders Nevada and New Jersey, which experienced revenue declines exceeding 14 percent for the period.
But the drop in revenue wasn’t as steep as what Illinois experienced between 2007 and 2008, when casinos had to transition their facilities into smoke-free areas.
* Exelon rethinking NRG bid: analyst
* Cat chief sees 5-year climb back to record revenue
* Job applicants get creative — but warned not to go too far
* AT&T cellphone service coming to Chicago subways
* City: Layoffs Coming Without Union Concessions
* Union leaders boycott City Hall meeting with sick Daley
* Chicago Teachers Union Supports CPS Job Cuts
* 7 aldermen opted not to take furloughs
City Hall employees already have been forced to take as many as two furlough days in 2007 and six last year. But most elected officials took no more than three unpaid days last year, according to city budget documents obtained by the Tribune through the state’s public records law.
Aldermen George Cardenas (12th), Frank Olivo (13th), Howard Brookins (21st), Daniel Solis (25th), Scott Waguespack (32nd), Richard Mell (33rd) and Brian Doherty (41st) had not taken any unpaid days off since January 2007. The other 43 aldermen, as well as Daley, Clerk Miguel del Valle and Treasurer Stephanie Neely, have voluntarily accepted at least some days without pay.
* Bail for Ex-Island Lake Democratic Party Mayor Tom Hyde’s Wife $400,000
* Navy Pier triples number of surveillance cameras
Navy Pier has more than tripled its surveillance network — with cameras so sophisticated, they can pick out a face in a crowd six blocks away — thanks to a $4.2 million Homeland Security grant designed to prevent a lakefront terrorist attack.
* Navy Pier security cameras unveiled
* All of city’s lakefront should be public land
* Ueberroth no longer has role in Chicago 2016 bid
* County patronage scandal figure gets trial delay
* Illinois to get $127M in disaster relief for flood
- winco - Thursday, Jun 11, 09 @ 10:04 am:
northwest herald reports the prosecutor told them that the bond for Tom Hyde and his wife was each 10,000. not 400,000.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Jun 11, 09 @ 10:18 am:
–* AT&T cellphone service coming to Chicago subways–
Great. More opportunity for loud, pointless conversations on the subway.
“Where are you? I’m on the subway now. Whassup? I’m on the subway now. Talk louder, I’m on the subway….”
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Jun 11, 09 @ 10:19 am:
Is it just me, or is there an overwhelming sense that things are going to hell-in-a-handbasket awfully quick?
- Cassandra - Thursday, Jun 11, 09 @ 10:20 am:
We should be wondering why it took the advent of Ron Huberman for the CPS to make substantive cuts
in CPS’ fabled central office. According to the union prez, this massive overstaffing has been in place for decades. And these folks, many of them politically connected, make big bucks.
Why didn’t Arne do it? Maybe he was too busy leading the charge for ever higher taxes to pay for an ever larger crew of school bureaucrats.
Of course, it’s Chicago. It’s not over til it’s over. Those hundreds of bureaucrats may yet be saved…especially if Chicago gets a huge shower of state money via Quinn’s regressive income tax hike proposal.
- Leroy - Thursday, Jun 11, 09 @ 10:26 am:
wordslinger - you are trapped in 1990s techthink. It’s all about texting an twittering now.
Perfect activities for the bored subway rider.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Jun 11, 09 @ 10:27 am:
Leroy, not on my train. I’m just becoming a crankier old man.
- OneMan - Thursday, Jun 11, 09 @ 10:30 am:
=* AT&T cellphone service coming to Chicago subways=
I just wish AT&T had 3G service that worked consistantly in the loop above ground…
(rimshot)
- Scooby - Thursday, Jun 11, 09 @ 10:36 am:
OneMan, exactly. Now if they could get AT&T to work in my office or my apartment I’d go back to an iPhone. AT&T is really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really horrible.
- yinn - Thursday, Jun 11, 09 @ 10:54 am:
The first linked article mentions income tax receipts in two of the communities. How does that work?
- Patrick McDonough - Thursday, Jun 11, 09 @ 11:47 am:
Six blocks? Maybe they can spy on the Jardine Plant and find those double-dipping city workers working on Mayor Daley’s behalf downstate!
- Maggie - Thursday, Jun 11, 09 @ 12:07 pm:
Smoke could be clearing for casinos ?
This has to be a joke. Right ? They have no one left. So 10% of nothing is a good thing ?