* Kadner: Odelson has Rahm in his legal sights

* Emanuel and Dart are the Willis Tower and the John Hancock Center

* Emanuel supports listing TIF funds on budget

* Gutierrez Will Run: Source

* Is Gutierrez Mayoral Favorite In Latino Community?

* Quigley to announce mayor’s race plans next week

* Ald. Fioretti losing tonsils, voice, will have to delay entry into mayor’s race

* Personal track records the defining factor in Cook County board race

* Foreclosure freeze showing little impact in central Illinois

In August, one in 2,500 homes in Sangamon County had received foreclosure notices, according to RealtyTrac, a national listing and data company. Statewide, the figure was one in 314 and nationally, one in 381.

Still, TSP-Hope Inc. executive director Ron Fafoglia said requests come in daily for help through the group’s mortgage and foreclosure counseling program. But foreclosure suspensions by major lenders and federal mortgage modification incentives have had little effect, he said.

* Illinois corn yield estimates cut; prices spike

The latest harvest estimate of 160 bushels an acre, released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was down 14 bushels an acre from early September. Estimated yields are down more than 11 percent since early August.

“It’s a huge drop,” said University of Illinois Extension agronomist Emerson Nafziger. “In my 29 seasons, I don’t think I’ve seen one that large. […]

Corn prices have spiked as a result, closing at $5.79 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Tuesday compared to a little less than $5 late last week.

* Good weather, dry fields help farmers wrap up early harvest

* Feds grant 30-day extension for flood assistance

* Journal Star: Ameren’s rate hike request more reasonable, but timing no better

* Mayor Daley To Present Final Budget

* Mayoral jockeying builds in advance of Daley’s last budget

In one development, Alderman Bob Fioretti (2nd), who is expected to run for mayor, asked that the mayor provide real figures on revenues and expenditures for the first nine months of the year, rather than the traditional “projected” numbers.

* Daley budget expected to leave long-term woes to successor

The spending plan will be a mostly hold-the-line proposal without tax or fee increases. And it will put up to 200 more cops on the streets, the mayor announced Tuesday.

But the financial blueprint also won’t include the kind of major cost-saving overhaul of city government budget watchdogs say is needed. Instead, Daley is simply bequeathing years of money woes to the city’s next chief executive, critics contend.

* Daley’s Budget Bad News for Successor

* Daley: ‘I’m not grumpy’ (Sneed)

* Municipal Pension Tabs Average $15,000 Per Household

…and if you live in Chicago, the ultimate bill for years of unfunded promises to municipal employees is much, much worse. Like $42,000 per household, according to a new study by Robert Novy-Marx of the University of Rochester and Northwestern University’s Joshua Rauh.

* Chicago’s deepening pension hole; Alexi’s TARP waffle?

* Bed Bugs Hit Chicago Public Schools’ Headquarters

* Midway Airport nation’s worst for takeoff delays this year

* Tardy departures plague Midway Airport

* Amtrak line through Springfield one of U.S.’s fastest-growing

More than 572,000 passengers took Amtrak between St. Louis and Chicago in the just-completed federal fiscal year, a 13.1 percent increase that made the route one of the fastest growing in the country. […]

The Chicago-St. Louis service was the seventh-fastest-growing route of nearly 50 operated by Amtrak nationwide. The route was also among nine that carried more than 500,000 passengers for the fiscal year.

* Aldermen learn Amtrak ridership rose 3.4 percent in past year

The Quincy-to-Chicago Amtrak route saw a 3.4 percent increase in ridership during the 2009 federal fiscal year, and Mayor John Spring told aldermen Tuesday that it bodes well for the city’s hopes of building a $6 million intermodal facility using funds set aside in the state’s capital bill.

* Cepeda: Whittier is one place city needs fresh start

* Juvenile jail chief worried about ‘dirt bag’ workers

The Sun-Times has obtained a copy of the Oct. 7 letter to Weis, penned by Earl Dunlap, head of the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, that reads in part: “Over the next few months, the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center will be transitioning to a new staffing plan, which may potentially result in a job loss for over 200 JTDC employees. Hostilities have been growing among some staff members in connection with this plan, and there have been credible threats of violence.”

* Rolling Meadows examines finances

Citing property tax payments that aren’t due until December, City Manager Sarah Phillips said the staff recommends the city issue a tax anticipation note of $1.5 million for a short-term loan.

* Villa Park lobbies for tax hike

* Outgoing Glen Ellyn finance chief roasted

* RR Star: Mullins deserves 2nd term as Winnebago County clerk

* Moline gets to balanced budget, few changes from recommendations

* Peoria endorses keeping same property tax rate to pay for services

* Peoria School Board OKs contract amendment, pay raises

* Macon County’s proposed budget ready for public display

* Champaign extends East University TIF district for 12 years

* Low bond interest rates means Coles County has more money for projects

* Herrin council OKs TIF district

* Monroe County circuit clerk says he’s stepping down

* Why is the mayor skeptical of plan for old Belleville YMCA?