* CPS First-Day Attendance May Be Exaggerated

* City lets $61 million slip through its fingers

Through July 31 of this year alone, there were $23.3 million worth of outstanding fines on citations written by 11 city departments. Last year’s deadbeat total was $38 million.

Once again, the Chicago Police Department tops the list, with $20.2 million in outstanding fines since Jan. 1, 2008. That’s followed by the departments of Streets and Sanitation ($14.2 million), Buildings ($13 million), Business Affairs and Consumer Protection ($10.2 million) and Health ($1.4 million).

The amount of money in defaults and uncollected citations dwarfed the amount of money collected by the Police Department by a nearly 4-to-1 margin.

* Stroger, federal hiring watchdog spar over Cook County patronage

The report, released Monday, said Stroger and the board have adopted protections against illegal patronage hiring, then detailed allegations that the system is still being subverted for political reasons by decision makers who work for Stroger.
“While some county policy makers and their agents are busy drafting and adopting and implementing appropriate policies, others are busy evading and frustrating and defying policies,” the report stated.

During Wednesday’s discussion, Stroger asked if all of the allegations of illegal patronage relate to a time before he was in office.

“No,” Robinson said. She added that her job is not to prove such allegations but rather to work toward eliminating the hiring, firing, promotion and transfer of most workers based on political considerations.

* Some Cook County bosses still hire patronage workers for ‘non-exempt’ jobs: court-appoited monitor

* Mayor gets vote, park board member gets job

A Chicago Heights Park District Board member who voted to give district Supt. Alex Lopez a hefty raise was appointed to a city job that same month by Lopez, who also is mayor of Chicago Heights.

* Naperville to ban video gambling

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to draw up an ordinance proposal for opting out of the Illinois’ Video Gaming Act, which was approved by state legislators as a way to fund a large capital bill. The council will vote on the proposal Oct. 6.

The Evanston City Council voted Monday to ban video gambling, joining Rosemont and Country Club Hills. DuPage County has enacted a ban in unincorporated areas.

About 125 establishments in Naperville would have been eligible for the video gambling machines.[…]

Under the Video Gaming Act, the state will receive 25 percent of video gambling revenues, while towns will receive 5 percent. An econometrics firm calculated Naperville could have reaped $11,250 a year for each business with five machines.

* Sheriff: Layoffs of deputies may be needed

* FOP cries foul over payments to cops

The Daley administration will make cash payments totaling $600,000 to 162 Chicago Police officers denied their requests for compensatory time in a move denounced as a “blatant violation” of the police contract.

The Fraternal Order of Police on Wednesday filed an unfair labor practices complaint and a class-action grievance on behalf of officers who accumulated comp time that falls under under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The act requires the city to grant comp time requests made with sufficient notice, even if it means calling other officers in on their days off to fill the void. It applies to time earned above 11 overtime hours during a four-week period.

* Reform advocates push for overhaul of prostitution law

* Union: City cop beat bus driver unconscious

The incident is being investigated by Area 3 detectives and the Independent Police Review Authority. At the time of the incident, the officer already had been relieved of his police powers for an “unrelated matter,” a Chicago Police spokesman said, without elaborating.

The alleged beating occurred Saturday night in the Loop. At the time, the officer was riding a bicycle, and then allegedly boarded the bus, accusing the driver of trying to cut him off.

Jefferson said video surveillance shows the police officer repeatedly punching the driver, leaving the bus, and then returning to punch the driver some more.

* Woman says cops bullied her in murder probe

* Parking twist: Embattled contractor giving away free minutes at city meters

* Whitney Young principal testifies in probe

The principal of a school that’s part of a federal probe into admissions practices at the city’s elite public high schools said Wednesday that she has testified before a grand jury.

Whitney Young Principal Joyce Kenner declined to provide details of her two-hour testimony last week before the federal panel.

* Waiting for cable? You’re not alone

* Taxi fuel surcharge out

* Murdoch throws Chicago Olympics a lifeline

* Boarding schools make room for diversity

* A November to remember Payton

* Gov. Pat Quinn says compromise possible on Payton statue ahttp://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/09/gov-pat-quinn-says-compromise-possible-on-payton-statue-at-soldier-field.html

* Shuttered Waukegan methadone clinic slammed over procedures in state report