Morning Shorts
Monday, Sep 21, 2009 - Posted by Mike Murray
* Quinn to declare public health emergency in Peoria
Gov. Pat Quinn plans to declare a public health emergency in Peoria next week to provide more resources for a public health response to the swine flu virus.
* Tribune Editorial: Aldermen vs. the people
Wal-Mart’s plans to build a second store in Chicago remain bottled up in the Chicago City Council. The store that Wal-Mart would like to build on the South Side at 83rd Street and Stewart Avenue, is going nowhere because the aldermen live in fear of organized labor and organized labor despises Wal-Mart.
* Olympic delegation adds security to trip
* Chicago 2016: Olympics fundraising drive a game of giving or take
Some wonder what the planned $250 million effort will mean to city’s charities, cultural institutions
* City sets ‘ambitious’ greenhouse goal
* Crooked cop still gets his pension — from prison
Ex-chief of detectives William Hanhardt joined Police Department before law was changed in 1953
* Despite scandals, others kept their pensions, too
*PJSTAR: Golden public pensions need dose of private reality
* Few Chicagoans share the ride
Car pooling rate of 1.6% is lowest in U.S. and less than half what it was last year
* Racially charged killing ignites Rockford
* Sun-Times Union, Bidder Still Trying to Negotiate
* The scorecard on Tribune’s ownership of Cubs: Lots of revenue, no titles
- wordslinger - Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 8:42 am:
The Hanhardt story is a blast from the past. A Chicago cop for three decades, chief of detectives, deputy sup — and all that time, working for The Outfit. He, Tubbo Gilbert and Dick Cain were the highest moles in law enforcement — that we know of.
By the way, Dick Cain’s brother wrote an interesting book on his life. Of course, any life that included simultaneously working for Dick Ogilvie, Sam Giancana, and the CIA, while informing for the FBI and being the suspected grassy knoll shooter is bound to be interesting.
It’s also likely to end with a shotgun blast to the head in Rosa’s Sandwich Shop on Grand Avenue.
- The Prophet - Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:10 am:
I was just wondering if I am the only one out here that is a little upset that members of the Obama family are headed over to Copenhagen to pitch for Chicago to be the host of the 2016 Olympics? It has to cost the US taxpayers something everytime an Obama family member decides to go overseas for something or other since a large security detail of Secret Service agents are going to have to plan and coordinate the whole trip on my (a United States taxpayer) dime. Would Mrs. Obama be flying to Copenhagen if Toldeo, Ohio were trying to land the 2016 Olympics instead of her own home town? I doubt it.
My opinion is that if she wants to act as a salesperson for Daley and Chicago to exert influence and pressure on the Olympic committee officials for Mayor Daley’s Chicago, the City of Chicago and Mayor Daley should be picking up the entire tab for her trip instead of the rest of the country’s taxpayers. Somebody evidentally forgot to tell her that we are in a depression or recession and that the rest of us are tightening our belts and having to do without. I will bet that there are others out there that share my view. Even a major portion of Chicago’s own residents don’t want the 2016 Olympics coming to their city. Mayor Daley and Roland Burris share a lot in common. Both want to be marked down in Illinois history books for their accomplishments (that others footed the bill for in order to soothe their inflated egos). Please stay home Michelle and let Mayor Daley & his Machine run it’s own errands.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:17 am:
TP, that was pretty weak. It’s an official delegation. And Chicago just happens to be in the US of A.
- NorthFarmer - Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:31 am:
Mark and Rich,
It’s H1N1 virus! The horrible nickname “swine flu” has cost IL Pork Producers millions of dollars in lost sales this year.
- NorthFarmer - Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:33 am:
Mike and Rich—sorry
- vito - Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 10:12 am:
1.6% carpool? No surprise—build freakin car pool lanes and watch that number jump! Amazing that other states have them and we don’t. Or better yet- charge for special lane. Crap–as a guy who drives 50 miles to chgo M-F, I’d pay $10 each way if I could get there in 60minutes, which I can on a Sunday instead of 2 freakin hours on most days! State would make a lot of $$, but the liberals wouldn’t do that—”what about the poor people” they can’t afford a $20 RT price. Too BAD! Get a job then
- Cassandra - Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 10:27 am:
Our state legislators, those happy little foxes in the pension henhouse, are unlikely to find many reasons to change anybody’s state pensions. They likely figure that by messing with those 200 and 300k pensions they are starting down that slippery slope to folks messing with their $100k ones (didn’t I read that most legislators end up with pensions in the $100k range). No help there.
The real problem is a national one and it seems unlikely that the Obama administration is going to have the time or energy to fix it, even if he wins a second term. Tens of millions of American workers are moving towards a retirement in which they will have only Social Security and whatever they have managed to save in various retirement accounts and other savings vehicles.
And that’s scary.
- Quinn T. Sential - Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 4:53 pm:
Am I the only one wondering how the Governor can announce that he intends to declare a public health emergency; in a particular location, a week in advance of doing so?
No mention of actual disease outbreak to substantiate a public health emergency, just an announcement a week ahead of time that we plan to make this declaration; at this location, with nothing to substantiate that such an emergency actually exists.