* Illinois Issues picks SJ-R Heupel to be executive editor

* Press Release: Trial lawyers’ reaction to ‘judicial hellhole’ report

* Sun-Times Editorial: Field of schemes

Sam Zell needs to stop looking for sweet deals from taxpayers. The Tribune might have allowed him to gobble up its company with very little money down, but we aren’t so charmed by billionaires. Instead, he and his new company need to court the growing list of private buyers for their crumbling stadium. Remember whom we are talking about here. Samuel Zell is No. 52 on the Forbes rich list with a net worth of $6 billion. The Tribune is the third largest newspaper company in the country. Turn down the violins, please.

* Halvorson to Blago, ‘Get moving on the airport‘

Halvorson (D-Crete) said Tuesday she’s giving the Illinois Department of Transportation until March 1 to submit its airport layout plan to the Federal Aviation Administration. If IDOT doesn’t meet the deadline, Halvorson threatened to start publicly airing her grievances with Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his administration.

“After March 1, I’m not going to be quiet,” said Halvorson, a candidate for the 11th Congressional District seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller. “I have been very cooperative so far.”

* Fermilab fiscal ‘disaster’ feared

Fermilab may have to shut down for a month or more and stop research on a pivotal new physics project if federal budget cuts passed by the House this week become law, according to the Batavia lab’s director, who said the fiscal woes amount to the biggest crisis in the facility’s 40-year history.

The physics lab’s overall budget would drop by $62 million under the new House-Senate compromise on the 2008 budget, said Fermilab director Pier Oddone. The lab had been planning for an operating budget of $372 million.

* Daley calls son’s city deal a ‘lapse in judgment’; video here

At that point, the always-emotional mayor choked back tears as he struggled to continue. “I hope those people understand that Patrick is a very good son,” Daley said. “I love him. And Maggie and I are very proud of him. I hope you will respect that I will have nothing more to say on this.”

With that, Daley changed the subject to the CTA’s financial crisis. Asked a few minutes later if he knew whether his son or nephew were involved in any other city contracts, the mayor said, “I don’t know.”

His press secretary, Jacquelyn Heard, said later that calls to contract officials in various city departments yielded no evidence that the mayor’s son, who is now in the Army, and nephew are involved in any other city business.

* Mayor says son erred in investment judgment

* Carol Marin: Taxpayers need Daley’s answers

* Monitor rips city hiring

The report by Noelle Brennan, who has monitored city hiring since August 2005, alleged that several high-ranking aides to Daley skirted hiring rules to give jobs to favored candidates. In other instances, preferred job-seekers were put on the payrolls of outside contractors to get around restrictions at City Hall, Brennan said.

Many city employees who violated hiring rules have not been punished, the report said. Brennan also alleged that city lawyers repeatedly provided false or misleading information about hiring problems, hampering her investigation.

* Talcum powder sent to Daley, aldermen in letters; more here and here

* Dozens of city grade schools could close

As many of them below capacity are clustered in a few neighborhoods, the district’s overall elementary enrollment has fallen by 41,000 over the last seven years.

Dispensa said that trend is seen elsewhere nationwide, as younger families have fewer children. The children of many Baby Boomers, meanwhile, have moved on to high school, where enrollment remains strong for now.

* Tribune Editorial: The 17% charade in Cook Co. budgets

Some officials may again try to exploit the 17 percent charade Wednesday, when they’re scheduled to discuss possible cuts of 10 percent for 2008. Expect to hear them whine about those 2007 cuts — followed by their blustery resistance to doing what mere taxpayers have to do whenever their income falls short of the amount of money they need: reduce spending.

The true story of the 17 percent started to unfold last week. The county’s budget director distributed a report on actual budget cuts for 2007. The report startled several board members who dutifully had cut 17 percent from their own office expenditures — and assumed everyone else in county government had done the same.

Not so.

* Officials set to oppose county cuts

Most of Cook County’s top officials are expected to testify Wednesday that they cannot sustain a 10 percent cut in their 2008 budgets.

Commissioner John Daley (D-Chicago), chairman of the Finance Committee, said he has received letters from most countywide elected officials and department heads, nearly all of them saying their operations could not withstand another round of spending reductions.