Oddities and ends
Monday, Dec 20, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller
* When we talk about the circular firing squad in Illinois, it’s usually about the Republican Party. But the Left has its share of problems as well…
In a move that will likely send shock waves through the local LGBT community, pro-LGBTQ organization Equality Illinois is no longer employing Rick Garcia as its director of public policy. […]
Garcia’s contribution to the advancement of gay rights in Illinois is undeniable. He was a key figure in the passages of both the amendment of the state’s human-rights act that includes sexual orientation and gender identity as well as the civil-unions bill that recently passed through the Illinois General Assembly.
As I told subscribers this morning, the coppers even showed up…
Garcia, though, who co-founded Equality in 1992 and has been the group’s top lobbyist since then, said a few hours after being let go that he didn’t intend to go quietly and the next morning, Dec. 17, showed up to work at Equality’s offices on North Halsted Street.
When he refused to leave, Cherkasov called Chicago police and had them escort Garcia out of the offices.
An interview with Garcia is here. Some of it is not safe for work.
* Lotsa cash…
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago collected about $99 million from criminal and civil debts in 2010.
The collection of more than $72.5 million in debts, coupled with an additional $26.4 million collected through asset forfeiture, means that the office’s total collections this past fiscal year amounted to more than three times its annual budget of approximately $32 million, a U.S. Attorney’s office release said.
But I do agree with the Sun-Times…
In all the best movies about Prohibition, federal agents at some point raid a warehouse of illegal booze, smash the barrels of beer with axes and pose triumphantly for the press cameras.
They pretend not to know — or, worse, really are unaware — that they are on the losing side of history.
We like to watch such movies with a beer in hand.
Precisely the same story played out again Thursday in Chicago, but with marijuana instead of beer. Federal agents held a news conference to announce they had confiscated 11 tons of pot in a raid on a warehouse in Chicago Heights.
The agents showed pictures of the pot and posed for the cameras and called it a “great day for the good guys.”
As if they did not know they are on the losing side of history.
* A bit of legislative logrolling by Mark Kirk…
A provision banning the Obama administration from transferring detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the United States, even for trial, made its way into the National Defense Authorization Act that passed the House Friday. According to reports, it was part of a deal worked out with Illinois Republicans to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
Congress hammered out a compromise last week that stripped controversial measures like DADT repeal (passed instead in a standalone bill) from the defense spending bill. But Illinois Republicans, lead by Sen. Mark Kirk, warned the negotiators not to take out the Gitmo transfer ban if they wanted the bill to pass both houses.
* Charlie Cook takes a look at what could happen to the currently crazy 17th Congressional District after reapportionment…
But what might be better for Democrats than eliminating Schilling’s 17th CD altogether? They could actually make it even more Democratic than it already is. How? First, the 17th CD could give away its only heavily Republican area, Quincy (Adams County), to the safely Republican 19th CD. Then, it could combine Rock Island (Schilling’s home) and Springfield from the current 17th CD with Democratic-leaning Peoria in the 18th CD (sophomore GOP Rep. Aaron Schock’s home) to create a Democratic “supermajority” district. This might force Schilling and Schock into a primary for a seat that would be an uphill battle in a general election. And even if either Schock or Schilling were to prevail in the general, Democrats will have succeeded in “carving out” a Republican. A downstate Democratic dream scenario is depicted here:
The map…
More…
Of course, the rest of the state might not be as easy for Democrats to navigate. If Illinois loses a seat and Democrats eliminate one district downstate, all Chicago area districts would still have to expand. One palatable option for Democrats would be to move the 11th CD represented by Kinzinger (whose home is downstate in Bloomington anyway) downstate and out of suburban Will County entirely. Then, the inner Chicago districts of Reps. Jesse Jackson (IL-02) and Dan Lipinski (IL-03) could expand into fast-growing Will County, which lacks an incumbent, without too much political consequence. If Illinois somehow manages to hold onto its 19th seat, Democrats could still merge Schock and Schilling, but Kinzinger would still probably hold onto most of Will County.
In either case, Democrats would love to strengthen their numbers in the northern Chicago suburban districts of Walsh and Dold, whom they regard as flukes. Democrats could draw more of Walsh’s GOP-leaning McHenry County precincts into GOP Rep. Don Manzullo’s 16th CD, and force Walsh to take over more Democratic precincts in Lake County. In turn, Dold’s district would gain even more heavily Democratic precincts to the south in Cook County around Evanston. Democrats could also seek to improve their numbers in GOP Rep. Judy Biggert’s 13th CD by adding heavily Democratic Aurora (Kane County) from new GOP Rep. Randy Hultgren’s 14th CD. Their hope would be to assume strong position to capture the district when Biggert, who will turn 75 in 2012, decides to retire.
* Other stuff…
* Your Apps Are Watching You - A WSJ Investigation finds that iPhone and Android apps are breaching the privacy of smartphone users
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Question of the day
Monday, Dec 20, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I’m not fond of super-crowded restaurants, so I don’t much care for the Walnut Room at Christmastime…
This morning in Classic Chicago we’re featuring a Chicago Christmas tradition, the Walnut Room.
This iconic holiday destination has been delighting locals and tourists for generations.
If you’re looking’ for Christmas cheer look no further. There is no room any more festive, any more tradition-rich and more beloved at the holidays than the Walnut Room.
“We are in the unique position of selling holiday memories. We have customers that have been coming in 30 to40 years. Second-, third- and fourth-generations. We just feed off of that. It’s a wonderful experience and we’re very proud to be part of a Chicago tradition,” said Art Lorenz of Macy’s.
* The Question: Not to be a Grinch or anything, but what is your least favorite holiday tradition? Explain.
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*** UPDATE *** From the Sun-Times…
The hearing officer in Rahm Emanuel’s residency case has tossed out a friend-of-the-court brief filed by 47 well-known attorneys who argued that Emanuel should be allowed to run for mayor.
The attorneys raised no new arguments that Emanuel’s attorneys had not already made, and four of the attorneys work at the Mayer Brown law firm, which is representing Emanuel in the case, hearing officer Joe Morris wrote.
Morris’ ruling on the friend-of-the-court brief does not necessarily signal his decision on Emanuel’s right to run for mayor, when he presents his findings to the Chicago Board of Elections on Wednesday. […]
“The hearing officer has examined the proposed brief and finds in it no argument that has not already been made,” Morris wrote.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* Congressman Danny Davis says he’s in the mayor’s race to stay. But he made some embarrassing admissions over the weekend…
“There are some who are asking the question, ‘Where is Danny Davis?’ And still others have suggested that I may just not run. The truth is, I’m just getting in this race,” Davis said to a crowd gathered at the West Side’s Johnny L. Miller Abundant Life Center.
Rahm Emanuel has been running for mayor for months, as has Rev. Sen. James Meeks, and Gery Chico, and Carol Moseley Braun, etc. It’s pretty darned late to be just getting set up. And it’s perfectly legit to ask where he’s been all this time.
Davis’ latest FEC filing on December 1st showed he had $376,647 in the bank. He reported another $10K in his state fund this past July.
* And crowing about a poll that has you in single digits is a bit odd…
Davis also cited a recent Tribune poll in which he and former Chicago Public Schools chief Gery Chico were tied for second with 9 percent. The poll showed that Davis is backed by 21 percent of black voters, more than any of the other candidates in the race.
* And then there’s this…
Q. There are pictures that appear to show you placing a crown on the head of Rev. Sun Myung Moon, head of the Unification Church at a banquet. How’d that whole thing happen?
A.That’s a big lie. I was at the banquet. A fella named Michael Jenkins, whom I know, came up to me and said, “We are going to crown Rev. and Mrs. Moon ‘true parents.’ Would you do us a favor and carry one of them up to the place where they are sitting?” And I said, “Well, yeah, Michael, I think I can do that.” And so I carried the crown for Mrs. Moon. When I got to where she was, I gave it to somebody else and they then crowned her. So I didn’t put a crown on anybody, I was not even, I guess, a part of the ceremony. Why can’t the truth just be the truth?
Q. His church is very controversial. It has been called a “cult.” He’s made anti-Semitic and anti-homosexual statements. He’s a big promoter of conservative causes. How did you get to be friends with him?
A.I don’t have any friendship or relationship with Rev. Moon. I’ve seen Rev. Moon a few times in my life. He is very conservative in terms of his political philosophy. I have some difficulty with this guilt-by-association idea. The fact that Rev. Moon said some things at an event that I attended has no bearing whatsoever on my feelings. There is not a public official in the city of Chicago who has been more supportive of lesbians and gays than Danny Davis. You cannot find a single person that has been more supportive of the Jewish community of Chicago than Danny Davis.
…Adding… The photo…
Background here…
As he made clear toward the end of his speech to the gathering, Moon believes himself to be “God’s ambassador, sent to Earth with his full authority.”
He said, “I am sent to accomplish his command to save the world’s 6 billion people, restoring them to heaven with the original goodness in which they were created.”
Moon went on to tell the gathering in simultaneously translated Korean that he’s been in communication with the spirits of Hitler, Stalin, Marx, Lenin and “the founders of five great religions,” and that these men and other notables have unanimously “declared to all heaven and Earth that Rev. Sun Myung Moon is none other than humanity’s savior, messiah, returning lord and true parent.”
Rep. Davis said: “I think he was simply saying that he’s a promoter of a message and that he thinks his message of peace and world peace make sense, not that he’s a messiah in the traditional sense.”
* But he hasn’t been reelected all those times for nothing…
“For too long I’ve seen two cities in Chicago. One city is prospering and vibrant; the other, poor and struggling,” he said.
Davis also said he supports an elected school board and wants a professional educator to lead the public schools.
This is a race to the runoff. Davis needs to ramp up super-fast. With two other African-Americans in the race, it won’t be easy. But Toni Preckwinkle took half the vote in the February primary even though she had black opposition and was up against a guy with unified white support.
Also, keep in mind that Chicago is very tough to poll.
* Whatever his faults, Davis has certainly been more visible than Roland Burris, who dropped out of the race Friday…
Former Sen. Roland Burris took himself out of the race for mayor Friday as obscurely as he entered it — with a brief press release.
From the day a few weeks ago that supporters filed nominating papers, until Friday, Burris made no public appearances and attended none of the public forums that most of the major candidates for mayor attended.
* Roundup…
* Emanuel defends missing forums, debates
* Rahm Emanuel confident he’ll survive residency fight: On another subject, Emanuel condemned as a “false choice” Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis’ upcoming plan to reallocate police resources from lower-crime districts to those that need more officers. Instead of robbing from Peter to pay Paul, Emanuel favors his own plan to use funds generated by Chicago’s 159 tax-increment-financing (TIF) districts to hire 250 more police officers to beef up Targeted Response Units that flood high-crime areas.
* Emanuel case before GOP hearing officer: From behind his reading glasses, Morris kept an even demeanor during the hearings and went out of his way to help objectors without lawyers craft questions in legalese, often to the obvious annoyance of the lawyers in the room. But Morris also was quick to try to shut things down when objectors veered off topic, such as when one man insisted on asking Emanuel about his FBI file.
* 48 legal experts say Emanuel has right to run
* Chicago’s election board takes center stage in Emanuel’s residency fight - 3 commissioners to vote Thursday on whether to bump Emanuel from ballot
* Mark Brown: Which box do you check on Rahm?
* Mayoral candidate Davis releases tax returns: Davis, 69, who has represented a West Side and suburban district since 1996, earns a salary of $174,000. The couple also reported $51,000 in pension and annuity income and $22,000 in Social Security income in 2009.
* Rep. Davis backed tax-cut compromise: It was quite literally a call from Obama that helped persuade Davis to vote for the bill.
* VIDEO: Meet Susana Mendoza
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Red light cams, speed traps and city stickers
Monday, Dec 20, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Chicago Tribune ran a big story over the weekend about how suburban towns are seeing revenues fall from red light cameras…
In Bellwood, which in late 2006 became the first suburb to install the cameras, photographed violations brought in $1.1 million at their peak in 2008, instead of the projected $1.5 million to $2 million. Revenues dropped almost by half last year, and officials say net revenues this year are near $250,000. […]
The number of tickets exceeded 14,000 in 2008, fell to 11,000 last year and was slightly more than 7,000 through October. But [Melrose Park] village spokesman Nathan Brown said that’s what officials were hoping.
But they buried something…
Chicago has more red-light cameras than any other U.S. city, with 189 intersections covered. The city took in $59 million in fines during 2009, officials said, and is on pace for more in 2010, after adding cameras late last year.
Violations are down at individual sites, so the city simply added more cams. Clever.
* And then there’s this…
The number of accidents fell significantly last year at the first suburban intersections to be patrolled with cameras, but state officials caution that a change in reporting requirements makes a year-to-year comparison suspect.
Overall, the number of collisions at the 14 suburban intersections in 2009 dropped 36 percent from the number in 2008. Collisions decreased at 11 of the 14, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Accidents increased at two intersections and showed no change at another. But the state raised the minimum level to report a property damage accident from $500 to $1,500, reducing the number of reported crashes statewide by 28 percent and potentially skewing the results, officials said.
At the same time, the number of accidents in which someone was injured, a figure unaffected by the reporting change, fell to 30 from 39 at the same sites last year, according to IDOT statistics.
* The paper also took a look at some notorious speed trap towns, including Carol Stream…
Using another tactic that has drawn fire from critics, the department this year joined an area police trend to charge an extra $500 impound fee — separate of any criminal fines — to motorists caught for specific crimes, ranging from DUI to suspended licenses. So far this year, it’s collected about $350,000 from just over 700 tows.
Civil libertarians complain that such impounds have few safeguards to ensure the innocent aren’t forced to pay up or lose their cars.
The department also helped pioneer another trend in policing that has prompted criticism — going incognito to nab violators. Officers have hidden in bushes, behind disabled vehicles and beside lampposts to conduct stings for speeding as well as seat belt and child seat violations.
Among their disguises: homeless wanderer, garbage collector, postal carrier, public works employee, landscaper and utility worker.
Go read the whole thing. There are several sidebars…
* Move to ban ticket quotas hasn’t gotten very far - Bill proposed by police union dies in Illinois House
* Graphic: Where the tickets are
* Database: Chicagoland Traffic Stops
* Questions about traffic enforcement
* How ticketing study was conducted
* And this looks like a pretty good idea…
The flip-side of Chicago’s 1.25 million city stickers would carry advertising to generate $15 million-a-year — enough to hire 100 new police officers and give motorists a modest break — under a plan proposed by the frontrunner for city clerk.
State Rep. Susana Mendoza (D-Chicago) wants to turn city stickers into money makers, much the way Mayor Daley has talked about letting private companies put holiday decorations and their corporate logos on bridge houses along the Chicago River.
The front-side of Chicago city stickers bears the winning entry of a design competition among student artists. The flip-side that motorists stare at on the inside of the windshield includes a grey scale of the city seal and signatures of the mayor and city clerk.
“It really advertises me, if I’m elected. It’s a complete waste of real estate. We have an opportunity to open it up to corporate advertisers to raise $15 million,” said Mendoza, who’s running for city clerk with the backing of powerful City Council Finance Committee Chairman Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th).
Thoughts?
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60 Minutes: The Day of Reckoning
Monday, Dec 20, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller
* 60 minutes aired a story last night about state budgets. It wasn’t pretty stuff…
The states have been getting by on billions of dollars in federal stimulus funds, but the day of reckoning is at hand. The debt crisis is already making Wall Street nervous, and some believe that it could derail the recovery, cost a million public employees their jobs and require another big bailout package that no one in Washington wants to talk about.
“The most alarming thing about the state issue is the level of complacency,” Meredith Whitney, one of the most respected financial analysts on Wall Street and one of the most influential women in American business, told correspondent Steve Kroft
Whitney made her reputation by warning that the big banks were in big trouble long before the 2008 collapse. Now, she’s warning about a financial meltdown in state and local governments.
“It has tentacles as wide as anything I’ve seen. I think next to housing this is the single most important issue in the United States, and certainly the largest threat to the U.S. economy,” she told Kroft.
Asked why people aren’t paying attention, Whitney said, “‘Cause they don’t pay attention until they have to.” […]
And nowhere has the reckoning been as bad as it is in Illinois, a state that spends twice much as it collects in taxes and is unable to pay its bills.
Comptroller Dan Hynes is then interviewed. His stories are familiar to readers by now.
Ms. Whitney also said she believed that while states will find a way to pay off their debts, they will likely pass the fiscal burden onto local municipalities. She predicted “50 to 100 sizable defaults” or more in the near future. Here’s the complete video…
* Meanwhile, the Freeport newspaper editorialized in favor of allowing states to declare bankruptcy…
Under the federal bankruptcy code, states are not allowed to file for relief under Chapter 9, like municipalities, counties and other subsidiary governmental entities can already do. States also enjoy the right of sovereign immunity, a judicial doctrine that prevents the government or its political subdivisions, departments, and agencies from being sued without its consent. That immunity prevents a vendor, or other private sector interests, from compelling payment of a debt, which might force a state to collapse its assets to meet its financial obligations.
But in the face of $80 billion in unfunded pension benefits, a state budget deficit somewhere more than $13 billion, and a six-month, $6 billion, backlog of overdue payables to state vendors, Illinois certainly fits the criteria for bankruptcy.
A study by The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities revealed that 41 states were facing severe budget shortfalls in 2009. Some states were worse off than others, with California ($31.7 billion) and Illinois leading the deficit pack. In all, the 41 states were facing a $71.9 billion budget shortfall in 2009 and the projection for 2010 put that deficit at more than $200 billion.
Amending the Federal Bankruptcy Code to allow states to file for relief might present a viable solution to the financial crisis that confronts Illinois, and 40 other states in the Union.
Thoughts?
* Related…
* 60 minutes “extra” video: The next financial meltdown
* State pension systems still selling assets to pay benefits: With Illinois government’s fiscal year nearly half over, the five state-funded pension systems have received little to no money from the state and have sold billions of dollars worth of assets to pay out benefits.
* Sale shows how bad situation is: In the wake of an executive order by Gov. Pat Quinn calling on state agencies to purge all surplus items in hopes of making a quick buck, officials with the cash-strapped state are now poised to review whether unused property around the state’s fleet of prisons might somehow bring in added revenue.
* Taxpayer group says government employees should fund their own retirements: “In Illinois, if each current state pension fund employee were required to contribute an additional 10 percent to his or her pension, taxpayers would save over $150 billion over the next 35 years,” Tobin said.
* Broken Benefits: Baby steps toward pension reform
* Tea party to protest Quinn’s tax plans
* Par-A-Dice dealing with economy, smoking ban better than most
* Broken budget awaits next Chicago mayor - Whoever seizes the crown may be left holding the bag
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Remembering Tim Davlin
Monday, Dec 20, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Springfield mayors hold a unique position in Illinois. As the mayor of the state’s capital city, they have access to more state leaders more often and more intimately than just about any other local leader except for maybe Chicago’s mayor.
Tim Davlin took advantage of that position better than most mayors his city has ever had.
Davlin was a regular at state events and built surprisingly strong relationships in the General Assembly and among statewide officials far beyond what an outsider might have thought possible when Davlin was first elected without any previous governmental experience.
He was also quite popular among his fellow Illinois mayors. Active for years in the Illinois Municipal League, Davlin was eventually elected its president. By chance, I happened to be staying at the same Chicago hotel as the Illinois Municipal League meeting the day Davlin was elected the group’s president. He was fully in his element, and his new position made it even more plausible that he might succeed one day at fulfilling his dream of higher office.
Davlin’s greatest challenge leading the Municipal League was pushing an initially reluctant General Assembly to reform the pension systems for police and firefighters during the recent fall veto session. The Legislature refused to touch pensions for first responders during the spring session partly because police and firefighters are so well-respected and because everyone knew that they couldn’t impose the same retirement ages and other restrictions on them. Nobody wants a 67 year-old firefighter showing up at their door when their house is ablaze.
It was a very difficult and controversial issue, but Davlin insisted that it be tackled. The unions representing the first-responders weren’t happy with being forced to give back hard-won gains, and they initially fought hard. Davlin kept his cool, never let the discussions turn personal, and firmly insisted on a fair outcome for everyone.
What resulted was something of a surprising rarity for Statehouse politics. Unlike the state employee and teacher pension bill, which was quickly jammed through the General Assembly last spring while enraged state worker and teachers’ unions were cut out of the process entirely, the first responders bill wasn’t really hated by anyone. Davlin even attended a function for a police union a few weeks after the bill passed. He was warmly received.
That’s just the way he was. The man actually persuaded the Sierra Club to sign off on a so-called “clean coal” electricity generation plant for his city. That was no simple feat. The Sierra Club hates coal, clean or not. The group has even locked arms this year with Exelon, which produces tons of pollution at its decades old coal-fired plants, to stop construction of a new clean coal plant near downstate Taylorville.
Davlin certainly wasn’t a saint. He made his share of governmental mistakes and he had his share of enemies in the city of Springfield, like any mayor would. But I do not know of a single enemy that Tim Davlin ever made at the Statehouse. In an environment where you are defined as much by your enemies as by your friends, Davlin literally had no enemies.
Some serious personal financial problems helped derail Mayor Davlin’s political career this fall. Davlin abruptly announced that he wasn’t running for reelection after the news stories broke. We’re still not sure how extensive his problems were, but he assured all who would listen that he would get everything back on track. He had such an easygoing manner and such a long record of success that it was difficult not to believe him. Davlin stopped by an annual holiday celebration of Statehouse lobbyists in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. Friends said he was as upbeat as always and genuinely relieved that he would no longer have to struggle with his city’s tough budget problems.
Sadly, that all ended when Mayor Davlin apparently took his own life last week. Some have speculated that maybe his troubles were worse than everyone thought. But, in reality, nobody really knows why he did it. Actually, it’s impossible to ever know why almost anyone would commit suicide, even if they leave a note. Suicide is an irrational act. Rational minds can never even begin to comprehend what a suicide victim is thinking.
I, for one, will choose to remember Tim Davlin for how he lived. His successor truly has gigantic shoes to fill, not only in Springfield, but throughout Illinois.
* Meanwhile, new details have emerged about former Chicago School Board President Michael Scott’s financial situation before he committed suicide…
† About two weeks before Scott’s suicide, a development company that had been paying him $10,000 a month “for consultation in regards to future projects involving the possible Olympic Games in Chicago” canceled his contract, according to new details from the Chicago Police Department that officials previously had refused to release. Scott lost that lucrative part-time job because the city failed to land the 2016 Games, according to an unredacted police report on his suicide obtained by the Better Government Association.
† Two downtown fast-food restaurants Scott co-owned — part of a franchise called Salad Creations — had gone out of business shortly before his death, and a third closed shortly thereafter, according to Phil Gershman, Scott’s partner in those eateries. Scott had been negotiating to build a fourth Salad Creations, this one at Midway Airport, but that deal didn’t materialize, Gershman says.
† Lenders are now seeking a total of about $1.2 million from Scott’s estate, probate records show. Nearly $1 million of that stems from a pair of loans that Scott and Gershman obtained for their restaurants in 2007 from First Chicago Bank & Trust. First Chicago also wants $182,025 from the estate to pay off a loan it gave Scott in 2005. American Express also has gone to probate court seeking $46,633 — the apparent unpaid balance on a Scott credit card.
Is that the “reason” he killed himself? We’ll never really know. As I wrote above, suicide is not a rational act. Rational minds simply cannot understand it.
* Related…
* A final farewell for Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin
* Springfield residents say goodbye to mayor
* Our community needs time to mourn
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Morning shorts
Monday, Dec 20, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller
* State medical society a roadblock to legislation barring dangerous doctors, critics say - Lobbying group has spent more than $6 million in campaign donations over the last 10 years
* Q&A on the census and redistricting: Which states may gain or lose?: The states with the biggest anticipated changes are Texas, which could gain as many as five seats, and Ohio, which could lose two. Nine states — Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania — could each lose one.
* Ill. treasurer-elect names chief of staff: Kyle Ham was mayor of Toulon for four years and most recently served as president and COO of Peoria NEXT.
* Quinn headed to Germany to visit injured U.S. troops
* Jesse White delivers turkeys, hams to needy
* Homeless Shelters Receive Much-Needed Grant Money: The state is distributing nearly three million dollars in grants; twelve area shelters are getting some of that money.
* Menard chief among 60 who’ve gotten state money for injuries
* Dead dogs found in Lake County animal shelter
* Parks orders probe into spiked pensions with lawsuits possible: Park District of Highland Park commissioners authorized an official investigation and possible lawsuits against two of its former executives Thursday night in an attempt to recapture previously approved salaries and bonuses.
* Harvey firefighters pension fund sues suburb
* Rockford School District spending restricted because of discipline disparity
* Metra to debut ‘quiet cars‘ in January
* Could airport cuts save deputies jobs? MidAmerica will cost almost $900,000 in 2011
* After helping at Ground Zero, 2 ill firefighters left out of settlement
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