* Missing juniors: Illinois officials to crack down on testing loophole

Taking aim at a loophole used to exclude academically weak 11th-graders from state testing, Illinois education officials said this week they want to create a single standard to determine when students are counted as juniors and therefore must take the exam.[…]

Nearly 10,000 students now in their final year of high school — about 7 percent of all Illinois 12th graders — skipped the two-day Prairie State Achievement Exam last spring for no apparent reason, according to a new state analysis.

These students didn’t qualify as juniors in May, and their districts chose not to test them, state records show. But months later in October they were listed as 12th graders — seemingly skipping 11th grade.

Because these low-achieving students did not take the rigorous exam, their home high schools were never held accountable, allowing them to skirt a central tenet of the federal No Child Left Behind law.

* Cook Co. board crawls toward 2010 budget

* More cuts contained in final Cook County budget

Tucked into the county’s approximate $3 billion 2010 budget that was approved Thursday night is another $13 million in cuts for the health system, a tough blow to withstand, said Bill Foley, the health system’s chief executive. […]

The system also has slashed 1,350 jobs by eliminating about 700 vacant positions on top of layoffs, according to health officials.

But this week, county commissioners sliced in half the controversial sales tax increase that took effect nearly 18 months ago, meaning about $32 million less in sales tax income during the new budget year.

On Thursday, commissioners passed a measure requiring any department that did not cut its budget by 5 percent, as they were asked to do, to take a 3 percent hit. That includes the health system, which would lose about $13 million.

* Cook County Board passes budget with no tax increases

The Cook County Board tonight passed a $3 billion budget for next year that holds the line on taxes.

* Stroger strategy: Veto tax cut at last minute

Waiting until Monday’s veto deadline, Stroger tells the Sun-Times, will give the county’s residents a chance to call their elected leaders and tell them to reconsider the half-penny on the dollar giveback. He has long said the lost revenue stream would decimate the county’s healthcare system.

“I do want to give them time — I want to give the constituents time to talk to their commissioners,” Stroger said.

His only hope of beating back an override, unlikely now even though he’s done it three times before on the issue, is for Cook County residents to speak up.

* Commissioners, keep fighting to cut sales tax

* Chicago City Council uses stealth payroll for family, operatives, those with heat

Shadowy $1.3 million payroll helps them get around ban on patronage hiring

Operating without scrutiny, one alderman hired the mother of a former top mayoral aide later convicted of rigging city hiring. Another hired a city worker ousted for sexual harassment allegations. Several others hired relatives.

“All of us (aldermen) have family members on the payroll,” said Ald. Isaac Carothers, 29th, who has paid a relative more than $30,000 since January 2008. “That’s nothing new.”

The revelation comes as Mayor Richard Daley prepares to ask a federal judge to end decades of court supervision over City Hall’s clout-heavy hiring practices, arguing that illegal patronage is dead. But the city’s hiring compliance officer told the Tribune he didn’t know about the payroll of about $1.3 million a year.

* Daley reappoints nephew to sports agency

Mayor Daley on Wednesday re-appointed his nephew and former campaign finance chief to the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority mapping plans for a retail development near U.S. Cellular Field.

Peter Thompson helped his uncle raise more than $7 million in less than three months — after Daley took a four-year break from fund-raising in the wake of the Hired Truck scandal — on the mayor’s way to a sixth-term landslide.

Now, Thompson will keep his unpaid seat on the agency that built and improved U.S. Cellular Field through Jan. 1, 2012.

* Daley Praises Settlement with Bensenville

Chicago’s City Council has approved a settlement to claim some land near O’Hare International Airport. The City of Chicago finalized its negotiations with Bensenville earlier this week to take over more than 500 houses as part of an expansion project at O’Hare. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley says it’s a good deal for the northwest suburb.

DALEY: All the property in and around O’Hare Field is always - all those suburban areas deal with future developments - it’s very important for them, for their tax base and their jobs.

Daley says transportation is a major economic engine for Illinois. The City of Chicago settled with Bensenville for $16 million after years of legal challenges.

* Glitch fixed, but delays still possible at O’Hare, Midway

* Northerly Island, Grant Park have big changes in store

* Huge score for DePaul

City planners OK new music, theater schools in Lincoln Park

* Hired Truck giant ready to roll on Bridgeport homes

* State stockpiles 35,000 tons of salt for region

Lower prices have allowed Southern Illinois to stockpile 98 percent of its road salt storage capacity before the winter season hits the region.

* Immigration Audits Target 24 Illinois Employers

Two dozen Illinois employers connected to public-safety infrastructure face a federal audit of their hiring records. Immigration officials say they have reason to believe the companies are hiring illegal immigrants.

* Nursing home task force ready to discuss changes

* Burr Oak opens for relatives to check graves

* A bittersweet reopening

Four months after Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart announced the destruction of about 200 graves, Burr Oak’s heavy new wrought iron gates opened to the public Thursday.

* Kenosha’s track to close; you might be able to adopt a dog

* Peoria County OKs balanced budget

* Will County Board approves 2010 budget

* Unions urge Will County to allow video gambling

* Oak Lawn considers tax hikes

* Stevenson High School officials halt publication of student newspaper, the Statesman

Administrators didn’t like 3 stories about honor students smoking and drinking, teen pregnancy, and shoplifting

* More residents seek assistance with energy bills

This month, 1,800 people waited in line at the annual Energy Assistance Fair at Thornton Township Hall in South Holland. Some people waited in line for hours, and the turnout was more than five times greater than last year’s attendance of about 350.

“It’s the Great Depression all over again when you see it up close,” said Robert Storman, who heads community relations for Thornton Township.

Nearly 800 people at the fair qualified for direct donations — ranging from about $200 to more than $1,000 — from Thornton Township to help cover heating costs. Others met with representatives from Nicor, ComEd and other utilities to resolve problems and work out payment plans.

* ‘Dead zone’ in Chicago sees 2 fatal shootings in a week

Teen who wanted out of South Side gang was fatally shot at a memorial for a slain gang member