Morning Shorts
Friday, Apr 16, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller
* In foster home, DCFS letter gave paper-thin authority
DCFS officials say they have issued “potentially thousands” of such letters to caregivers declaring that they have custody of children, with the expectation that they will soon get a judge’s approval. But because the letters are undated, and because DCFS did not always follow up, some guardians such as Lowe have had years-long custody with no court oversight.
* Senate OKs DuPage Water Commission takeover
Mayors from Addison and Carol Stream said the proposal is an “overreaction” to the commission’s financial problems and dubbed state Sen. Dan Cronin’s bill a “nuclear option.”…Cronin, who’s running for DuPage County Board chairman, said his proposal is a matter of consolidation as well as transparency. It was approved 39-5.
“If you look at the situation of what’s been happening in DuPage County, this appointed body of government has run amok,” Cronin said.
* DuPage Water Commission OKs budget filled with uncertainty
The $110 million worth of expenses hinges on the financially strapped agency receiving a $40 million loan and a water rate of $2.08 per 1,000 gallons. If the commission is unable to secure the loan, the body will have to increase the rate significantly to cover shortfalls created by the misappropriation of the commission’s $69 million reserve funds. Only Commissioner Liz Chaplin voted against the budget proposal Thursday.
Some commissioners attempted to increase next year’s water rate an additional 24 cents, but the initiative failed.
* Water rates rising for Illinois American customers
The Illinois Commerce Commission, which sets customer rates for utility companies throughout the state, voted unanimously to allow Illinois American to collect an extra $41 million annually in revenue, according to a press release issued Thursday. The decision allows Illinois American an overall rate of return of 8 percent, which means the company’s profits on the money it puts into plants, pipes and other infrastructure can’t be higher than that amount.
* Water debate: Public vs. private?
With Homer Glen now looking to do something similar through a partnership with a few other Will County towns, Illinois American has peppered mailboxes with mailings singling out Felton as an example of public control gone wrong.
* Midlothian approves gas tax
* Chicago Ditches ‘Photo-Enforced’ Street Sweeping
At best, the city says it’s something we can’t afford right now. At worst, it’s a $7 million program in violation of state law. They’ve already spent $400,000 on the new technology, and not a single ticket has been written.
* $40K for CPS appeals plan
Burlock said parents haven’t been given enough information to know if a college prep rejection was due to a technical error.
A letter stating her son won admission to his second choice included his overall admission score but never explained what score was needed at each college prep, said Burlock, a member of the Black Star Project PTA.
Plus, she said, the letter never explained which one of four economic tiers her son’s address fell into. An address incorrectly entered could put a kid in a tier that requires higher scores.
* Race for the best
Under the new policy, 40 percent of students at each college prep were picked in rank order of their admission scores on a 900-point scale. The remaining 60 percent were chosen from one of four economic tiers, based on how their scores stacked up against others in their tier.
* Go Euro — on city’s lakefront
Don’t know why, but we expected more resistance to this one — Mayor Daley’s proposal to double the number of liquor licenses along the lakefront.
But everybody seems just fine with it.
The aldermen like it.
The Chicago Park District likes it.
The Grant Park Conservancy likes it.
The Friends of the Parks like it.
And we like it, too.
* CTA to test NY-style L cars on Red Line
* CTA to unveil new rail cars
* Will County sets sights on vets facility
* Mattoon police union seeks injunction to prevent layoffs
* Chicago police expect to find out raises Friday
Officials with both Mayor Richard Daley’s administration and the Fraternal Order of Police said they expect to receive the decision by 8 a.m. Friday. Both sides said they plan to brief reporters later in the day.
* IL Fire Departments Awarded $1 Million FEMA Grants
* Illinois Senior Insurance Program Gets $1.4M Grant
* Illinois eager for appliances and instant rebates
* Coleman, Feinerman advance for federal bench
- Carl Nyberg - Friday, Apr 16, 10 @ 8:40 am:
I covered the Chicago Tea Party demonstration. The people who attended were ideologically diverse. However, there were participants that seemed to be primarily motivated by their racial views and hostility to immigrants.
- Carl Nyberg - Friday, Apr 16, 10 @ 8:47 am:
Sen. Susan Garrett alleged Sen. Mike Jacobs played fast-and-loose with the truth in getting the Senate to approve the bill to approve new nuclear power plant construction.
Rich Miller said Garrett’s story didn’t make sense.
Ellen Gill did some asking and it turns out Garrett used a simplified explanation that wasn’t exactly accurate herself.
- fedup dem - Friday, Apr 16, 10 @ 9:04 am:
The CTA ought to ship those new rail cars out to New York City. The only one who wanted this crap was former CTA boss Frank Kruesi, one of numerous idiotic ideas that cost taxpayers and riders millions of dollars while screwing up transit service even more than before.
- cassandra - Friday, Apr 16, 10 @ 9:56 am:
The DCFS letters in question appear to have been a product of the Republican administration which is probably why DCFS has been so forthright about condemning them. Yet the Dems have been in charge for over seven years now. How come they didn’t notice. Doesn’t DCFS employ squads of well-paid
lawyers. And I believe they have a special squad of AG lawyers to deal with more complex child welfare issues. Where were these folks? State govt, I guess. ZZZZZZZZ. Under the Dems, no need to work too hard.
The notion of DCFS workers or their contractual counterparts conferring “custody” without the benefit of judicial review does seem to be a prime example of governmental overreaching. so kudos to Murphy for pointing it out.
On the other hand, let’s hope that this little
crisis doesn’t give birth to another foster care panic in Illinois. We can’t afford it, and neither can the kids.
Years ago, when I worked as a child welfare worker in an unnamed state, I was astonished, as a young mother, to observe how many, many people would happily turn over custody of their kids to other people, legally or not. Should those folks be compensated? Probably. Should all the kids therefore become wards of the state, paid for by us. Let’s hope not.
- Phineas J. Whoopee - Friday, Apr 16, 10 @ 11:21 am:
I’m sorry for being slightly off topic, however, I really need to point out the absolute insanity demonstrated by the Chicago Suntimes website I just veiwed.
The breaking news is how the city wins big because Chicago cops won’t get the raise they want.
Their headline discusses the slaughter which took place accross the South and West sides last night which killed 7 and shot 19. That was in 12 hours.
What a win for the city.