* Bus driver strike over layoffs an ‘option’

The union representing CTA bus drivers and mechanics is considering a strike if the agency goes ahead with hundreds of layoffs.

“We’re just exploring every option,” said Darrell Jefferson, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union 241, which represents bus drivers. Nearly 1,800 Local 241 members received notices warning they could be laid off.

“A strike would be the absolutely last resort,” Jefferson said. “These are trying times. It’s not a productive idea to call a strike.” But he said the union has to protect its interests “by any means necessary.”

The CTA has a $300 million budget deficit for 2010 and has proposed steep fare increases and service cuts to plug the hole. The proposed cut of 18 percent of bus service would result in job losses.

* Union head on mom’s CTA story: Why does stroller appear undamaged?

* Stroller allegedly caught in CTA train doors appears to be unscathed

* Mayor Richard Daley’s administration sued by its own watchdog

The city watchdog agency charged with rooting out City Hall corruption sued Mayor Richard Daley’s administration on Wednesday, accusing it of thwarting an investigation into possible wrongdoing by current and former employees.

The inspector general’s office wants Daley’s top lawyer, Mara Georges, to hand over documents relating to a 2006 no-bid contract awarded to a former city worker.

The city’s first deputy inspector general, Mary E. Hodge, sued Georges in Cook County Chancery Court, asking a judge to order the full release of the subpoenaed documents.

* Workers asked to back fund-raiser

Employees in the Water Management Department at the center of the Hired Truck and city hiring scandals are being pressured to sell and purchase $50 tickets to the Nov. 19 benefit reception Mayor Daley is hosting on behalf of the United Negro College Fund.

Although the cause is laudable, the tactic is questionable.

The solicitation is being made on city stationery with employees referred to a city telephone number to purchase tickets to the event at the South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 S. Shore Drive.[…]

Andy Shaw, executive director of the Better Government Association, called the memo the “charitable equivalent of pay-to-play.”

* $154K schools job for ex-Daley aide

Despite a burgeoning financial crisis that has forced a $43 million property tax increase and hundreds of job cuts, the Chicago Board of Education has found a $154,000-a-year job for an all-purpose mayoral troubleshooter.

Barbara Lumpkin, 59, will serve as deputy CEO for external affairs for the Chicago Public Schools forging partnerships with the business community to support school programs. The job has been vacant for nine months — ever since Lumpkin’s predecessor retired.

* Cook County Board signs off on transfer of 176 acres at Oak Forest Hospital to forest preserve district

* Alderman: Preferential seating for Chicago residents at Millennium Park

* Chicago may open charter school near Altgeld Gardens

School seen as way to ease tension after Fenger student’s fatal beating

* CPS Wants New Schools, But Fewer

* Chicago Public Schools breakfasts are big on doughnuts, sugary cereals

Nutrition experts cringe at free breakfasts’ high sugar content

* Durbin Calls for New Management at VA Hospital

* Veterans Affairs officials promise improvements at the Marion VA Medical Center

* Maggie shows us how the system is broken

* Teamster Strike for Health Care Ends with Deal

A 10-week-old strike by toolmakers on Chicago’s Southwest Side is ending in what their union is calling a victory.

* Forecast cheery for holiday jobs

Despite an economy that has many still feeling none too merry and forecasts for a 1 percent drop in holiday sales, the holiday hiring front news isn’t all gloom and doom.

Although an Aon Consulting survey of more than 100 of the nation’s leading retailers found that 44 percent are hiring fewer holiday workers this year, a majority have no plans to pull back; 19 percent said they plan to boost their hiring, and 37 percent said their levels will remain the same as last year.

* Planned coal-to-gas plant clears another hurdle

Power Holdings Vice President Joe Darguzas says construction could begin next summer or fall and take about three years.

The site is expected to employ about 250 workers.