*** 3:08 pm *** OK, let’s start a new thread. To refresh your memories, the governor said today that he’s willing to provide another temporary bailout for mass transit in case a permanent solution isn’t found by Sunday; the RTA’s executive director said he won’t accept another temporary bailout; and Comptroller Dan Hynes says the governor has only given the RTA/CTA $37 million out of the promised $91 million temporary bailout.
Clear? OK. Now, onto our next update…
Downstate Senate Democrats are holding a press conference as I write this to say they won’t vote for a transit bailout bill until a capital projects bill is passed. They say that even though they realize transit is important, capital projects are as or even more important, particularly to them.
Also, RTA Chairman Jim Reilly just called. Reilly said that the RTA has “completed all the paperwork” for both parts of the temporary bailout proposal originally promised by Gov. Blagojevich, but that the governor’s office has not yet sent the RTA all their promised cash.. So, any leftover money that hasn’t yet been disbursed yet would not be “new” money.
Asked about his exective director’s comment about not taking another temporary money infusion, Reilly said, “I can’t imagine our agreeing to anything further, but it’s hard to comment until we actually get a proposal from the governor. ” The longer this gets delayed, he said, the more drastic the cuts or the fare increases have to be.
* 10:06 am - Another secret plan perhaps? From a press release…
Prior to departing for Springfield for legislative negotiations, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich will hold an availability with the media to discuss his efforts to resolve the mass transit funding issue and avoid service cuts and fare hikes on Sunday.
WHO: Governor Rod R. Blagojevich
WHAT: Governor Blagojevich will hold media
availability in regards to mass transit funding.
WHEN: 12:00 pm
WHERE: Signature Flight Support O’Hare Airport (VIP
Room)
Patton Road, Building 800
Chicago, IL. 60666
* 10:28 am - This morning, the Pantagraph reported that military veterans were losing guard jobs at National Guard sites in Illinois. Ironically, according to a press release from the governor, November is “Hire a Vet Month”…
Building on his commitment to help the state’s Veterans get the opportunities they have bravely earned, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today encouraged employers to hire the state’s military heroes during “Hire a Vet Month” in Illinois. The state will host several job fairs for Veterans this month and the Governor reminded employers of the new state income tax credit available of up to $600 for every qualified Veteran they hire.
* 10:30 am - Very, very bad news. A thousand high-paying factory jobs in Illinois are about to disappear…
On Thursday, Chrysler planned to announce the elimination of third shifts at the Toledo North plant in Ohio and the Belvidere plant in Illinois in the first quarter of 2008, according to two congressional aides with knowledge of the announcement. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The decisions will eliminate 750 jobs in the Toledo plant, which makes the Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro, and 1,000 jobs at the Belvidere plant, where Chrysler assembles the Dodge Caliber, Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot.
* 11:36 am - From Save Chicago Transit, here’s the “big board” totals from the first mass transit bailout vote in the House. The bill was put on “Postponed Consideration” so there’s no official roll call on record. As you can see, even if the “absent” members return tomorrow, they still have a long way to go to get to three-fifths…
* 12:19 pm - The House is now in session. Listen here.
* 12:27 pm - The House is adjourning. That was quick. They’re headed to caucus now. Mass Transit Committee is meeting after the caucus.
* 12:47 pm - Every “insider” I talked to yesterday said the exact opposite of this report from WBBM Radio…
Despite some misgivings among House Republicans, the betting among insiders on both sides of the political aisle is that House Speaker Michael Madigan can win passage of a transit bill that contains a quarter of a percent hike in the regional sales tax.
We’ll see what the week brings. Madigan has been burning up the phones, but there are serious impediments ahead, including the governor’s 5 House Democratic “No” votes in Blagojevich’s pocket.
*** 1:00 pm *** Without providing specifics, Gov. Blagojevich told reporters today that he’ll come up with another short-term bailout for mass transit if a permanent solution isn’t approved by Sunday, the CTA’s “doomsday” deadline. Blagojevich reportedly said that permanent solution is looking less and less likely as the deadline approaches.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich says he’s hoping he and legislative leaders can agree on a transportation bill.
But Blagojevich says - if they can’t - he has a contingency plan to give Chicago-area transit agencies the cash needed to avoid massive service cuts and fare increases slated to start Sunday.
The governor says there’s state money available to delay the crisis, but he stresses that the Regional Transportation Authority and the Chicago Transit Authority will have to accept the cash.
“I was more optimistic at the beginning of the week,” CTA Chairman Carole Brown said Thursday at a news conference after an RTA board meeting. “As we get closer to Sunday, I’m getting more nervous.”
*** 2:00 pm *** Check this out from the Daily Herald…
RTA Executive Director Stephen Schlickman said the board will not support another stop-gap solution, such as temporary funding. Without the transit bill’s passage, he promised the RTA will pull the trigger Sunday as planned.
“I suspect there is a chance for additional votes, but I have no guarantee that it will actually pass,” he said this morning.
“I’m not feeling good at all. We’ve threatened all of our riders with poorer service for higher fares and I think, if we go forward with that, it’ll be an injustice to them.”
[UPDATED: OK, I may have misread his remarks. Still, it’s weird that they would rather see those fare hikes and poorer service go through than accept some money that (see below) they haven’t even received yet.]
*** 2:13 pm *** Well, this is interesting. Most of the original promised bailout money has not yet been distributed to the RTA, according to the comptroller’s office. From a Comptroller Dan Hynes letter to the governor dated October 25th…
As you are aware, our office issued payments for $37,318,100 to the RTA/CTA on September 20 as part of the agreement approved by the Board and authorized by [IDOT]. It was our office’s understanding… that an additional $54 million would be disbursed in two installments within the following two weeks as part of an additional advance…
To date, we have received no such request or any response from your staff to a recent inquiry on the issue…
Congress put a temporary ban on Internet access taxes in 1998 to nurture what was then a fledgling industry. The idea: an Internet free from a tax burden would grow more quickly, encouraging a more productive U.S. economy.
The ban has been extended twice and would have expired Thursday but for an 11th-hour compromise between the House and Senate that will extend the moratorium for seven more years.
Interestingly enough, there was little enthusiasm to impose taxes on Internet service. You enjoy a tax break here you don’t enjoy for access to other communications, such as telephone and cable TV. But this went down to the wire because the Senate wanted to make the ban permanent and the House wanted to extend it just another four years. The Senate OKd the compromise by voice vote last week and the House voted 402-0 to go along Tuesday. President Bush signed the extension Wednesday. […]
The compromise spells out what Internet services would be off-limits for taxes, specifically prohibiting taxes on e-mail and instant messaging services “that are provided independently or not packaged with Internet access.” That leaves the door open to taxes on VOIP (Voice-Over-Internet Protocol) service. That seems fair, because it competes with traditional telephone service, which is subject to taxes. Congress isn’t looking to block local governments from tax sources they already tap. “It’s important to make sure that state and local governments are not deprived of revenues raised on services that have nothing to do with accessing the Internet,” said Sen. Thomas Carper (D-Del.), a sponsor of the compromise.
Now, the question: Should the Internet remain “tax free”? Explain.
* Bernie Schoenburg has react on the Tribune’s “recall” editorial from last Sunday…
“Governor Blagojevich is doing what he told people he would - coming to Springfield, fighting for working families including expanding access to healthcare and investing more money in education,” said spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch via e-mail.
She also passed along a statement from former GOP Gov. Jim Thompson, saying the Trib’s idea of adding recall would “introduce only more instability in state government and is not worthy of your editorial page.”
Thompson asks if other elected officials would also be subject to recall, and he questions the logic of blaming the governor for what lawmakers did not do.
“The last time I looked at the Illinois Constitution, the Governor had no power to initiate legislation or vote on its passage,” Thompson said.
“I am as disappointed as any other citizen at the lack of progress in Springfield,” Thompson wrote. “The Governor and the leaders of the General Assembly ought to sit down in the Mansion and not leave until they have come to a resolution of the challenges facing this state and its people, but the notion that we should amend our constitution to enable the removal of one official with one voice in the process is foolhardy and dangerous.”
Whenever three-fifths of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly so direct, the question of whether a Constitutional Convention should be called shall be submitted to the electors at the general election next occurring at least six months after such legislative direction.
And then added…
This is the flaw with the Tribune’s logic. By their own admission, there is no way in hell the general assembly is going to call a constitutional convention: “it’s doubtful legislators could bring themselves to such drastic action.” Here’s a group of people that can’t even approve a budget. Which brings us back to the reason we are in this situation in the first place: the voters don’t really control the political process in this state. Until the people can put together a democratic movement to remove the governor from office, the General Assembly can’t be counted on. And unless the Tribune is going to make recall the centerpiece of their media activism, editorials like this are barely worth the paper (or pixels) they’re printed on.
I would add that since the governor was elected to a constitutionally mandated four-year term, it’s highly unlikely that even if the Constitution was changed he could be removed during this term.
Essentially, what the Trib did was take the weasel way out. The edit board never actually called for Blagojevich’s recall, they just listed a bill of indictment and then asked for comments about a solution that is likely impossible anyway. Then they hyped the angry responses they received in a tabloid-style self promotion blitz.
* Disappointingly, Chicago Public Radio is even getting into the Tribune-promotion act, belatedly discovering that Pat Quinn supports the recall concept…
Illinois Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn is making a push to let voters recall elected officials. Quinn’s announcement comes just days after the Chicago Tribune editorial board said Governor Rod Blagojevich should be recalled from office.
Four months after receiving a subpoena for the results, an accounting firm hired by the Blagojevich administration refuses to turn over its audit of a company with ties to Gov. Blagojevich — and court documents reveal the administration is controlling the firm’s legal strategy.
In January, Blagojevich requested an audit of the state’s dealings with K.K. Bio-Science, whose owner, Anita Mahajan, was later charged with defrauding the state. Prosecutors say the audit could be used to bring additional charges against Mahajan and get millions back for Illinois.
But accounting firm Crowe Chizek still has not turned over the complete results, according to court documents and sources involved in the investigation.
The governor’s office said Wednesday the records have been turned over. The monthslong delay was because the audit had not yet been completed “and an issue that arose over a provision of state law that prohibits the release of names for DCFS clients,” said Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff.
John Gorman, a spokesman for Cook County State’s Atty. Richard Devine, declined to elaborate on the court filing except to say, “We have had no difficulty receiving the information we sought.”
* Back to the Sun-Times…
The memo asserts an audit of K.K. Bio-Science’s contract with the Department of Children and Family Services has been complete since June. On Oct. 2, a lawyer for Crowe Chizek called Chmelar and said Blagojevich counsel Bill Quinlan Jr. “would handle compliance with the subpoena.”
And on “multiple occasions,” the memo states, “a representative from the Office of the Governor” contacted prosecutor Patricia Woulfe and said “he would direct Crowe to deliver the documents.”
But sources close to the investigation say that not all documents have been turned over. The subpoena ordered the firm to produce everything.
So, if not all documents have been turned over, then why is the state’s attorney saying there haven’t been any problems?
Anita Mahajan, who has had business ties to Gov. Blagojevich’s wife, used lucrative no-bid contracts to steal $2.1 million from taxpayers while lying about her company’s tax status, prosecutors said Thursday. […]
At her bond hearing hours earlier, prosecutors described the enviable position her firm, K.K. Bio-Science, held with the state until it shut down recently. The firm’s contracts with the Department of Children and Family Services “were completely disproportionate” to those of other firms performing the same services, assistant state’s attorney Patricia Woulfe said.
A Chicago banker whose wife is accused of bilking millions from a no-bid state contract has helped raise more than a half million dollars for Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s campaigns since 2001.
Amrish Mahajan was a driving force behind his wife’s drug-screening company, now facing questions about how it kept its long-standing state contract despite troubles with taxes, licensing and years of alleged fraud.
A review of records and dozens of interviews reveal the company was built on Mahajan’s deep Chicago political connections and its government business grew along with his reputation as a power broker in the city’s Indian community.
Prosecutors also have alleged Mahajan used some of the money from her state payments to buy property in Chicago and New York. In at least three of those purchases, Mahajan used Patricia Blagojevich as her agent, but there has been no suggestion the first lady was aware of the alleged scheme.
* Somewhat related stuff…
* State worker fired for leaking report attorney said
* Editorial: Secrecy hurts Inspector General system
Illinois has a moratorium on executions. The U.S. Supreme Court has effectively imposed a national moratorium until it decides whether the most common method of lethal injection used in the states violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
No system of capital punishment will be mistake-proof — ample reason to deny government its use. But the abolition of capital punishment will require a long and arduous campaign to move public opinion.
In the interim, in light of all that we know about the fallibility of capital punishment, the burden should be on death-penalty states to prove they can administer it far better than they have in the past. It’s a burden many of them still cannot meet.
Earlier this fall, LaHood’s political fund donated $2,000 apiece to two of the three Republicans seeking the seat he is abdicating, Jim McConoughey and John Morris. By federal law, that’s the most he can give.
But by mid-October, he’d sent bupkis to Schock. Rumors started. Was LaHood sending a message? Picking favorites? Could it possibly be that someone in this world doesn’t love the young and fair Aaron?
Nope. LaHood said he’d be happy to send $2,000 Schock’s way - just as soon as Schock would formally announce his candidacy. That happened Saturday. LaHood sent his check.
In the weeks leading up to Sandi Jackson’s bid to unseat Beavers, her husband sought federal approval to channel funds from his congressional campaign into her ward battle against Beavers.
The congressman has asked the Federal Election Commission to address whether he can use his campaign funds on a local race “just to be safe,” his spokesman, Rick Bryant, said Wednesday.
The congressman’s Citizens for Jackson fund had $827,869 on hand as of Sept. 30.
* Daley takes the sweet out of his already sour budget
The mayor tightened the bureaucratic belt one more notch as aldermen introduced a flurry of property tax alternatives at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
They include: raising the fine for red-light camera violations from $90-to-$100; increasing from 15 cents to 25 cents a development fee on every square foot of buildable floor area; raising the city tax on consumers who purchase their natural gas from third-party providers and increasing — from 50 to 75 percent — a liquor tax hike that neighorhood bar owners are already screaming about.
Yet another proposal would cut in half — from a dime to a nickel — a proposed tax on each container of bottled water.
* 12:25 pm - The US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit has denied an emergency motion by George Ryan’s attorneys to continue Ryan’s bail.
From the opinion…
The voluminous record here demonstrates that the appellants were guilty of the crimes with which they were charged. Although they would undoubtedly like to postpone the day of reckoning as long as they can, they have come to the end of the line as far as this court is concerned. Two different panels of this court have already decided that bail ends with the issuance of the mandate. Because we are affirming the district court’s judgment, the district court’s receipt of the mandate will not require that court to take any new action on the case. The motion to stay the mandate is therefore DENIED. By separate order, we also have denied the motion insofar as it seeks reconsideration of the decision to terminate bail with the issuance of the mandate.
The trial was riddled with errors that ultimately rendered the proceedings manifestly unfair and unjust, notwithstanding the production of overwhelming incriminating evidence against the appellants. Therefore, because the trial was “broken beyond repair,” there is good cause for a stay and the appellants have a reasonable probability of succeeding on the merits.
Trial Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer has said Ryan and Warner must report to prison Nov. 7. They now are expected to appeal for bond to Justice John Paul Stevens, the Supreme Court justice who oversees matters originating in the Chicago-based 7th Circuit.
Ryan’s attorney, former Gov. James R. Thompson, said he was preparing to ask Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens to grant bond to Ryan while he takes his case to the nation’s highest court.
“We’ll probably do it within the hour,” Thompson said Wednesday afternoon, though he acknowledged it would be extremely unusual for the high court to grant an appeal bond.
“It hasn’t happened for the last 35 years, I don’t believe, but I’ve never seen a stronger case,” Thompson said.
But, please, no violent stuff. People can get in big trouble for that. Also, let’s try to keep it state and locally focused. Thanks.
…Adding… I posted this video a few years ago, but many of you weren’t around back then. Watch and listen closely and you can just barely make out a ghostly image that was accidentally picked up while a car company was filming an advertisement…
* Could there be some movement on the transit bailout bill?
The transit union that represents 600 bus drivers, facing layoffs on Sunday, was planning a news conference to claim that layoff notices were not sent out in a timely manner and the CTA has enough cash on hand to keep operating at full tilt. Those allegations could have been followed by a lawsuit, a work stoppage or some other type of job action, but all of the threats are now on hold, because Illinois’ political leaders are reassuring the president of the transit union that a bailout will be approved in Springfield this week.
“He is very confident that there will be a resolution, a legislative resolution, to the transit funding crisis,” said Melvin Caldwell, transit union lobbyist.
“The legislature will take action and will be responsible and not allow one of the largest mass transit systems become paralyzed,” Melvin Caldwell, ATU Local Union 241, said. […]
A spokesman for House Speaker Mike Madigan says he’s not aware of any breakthrough.
Another “super-secret” plan from the governor, perhaps? I’ll believe it when I see it.
* Meanwhile, this is a concern that most of us don’t think about when the topic of transit cuts is discussed…
Chicago Police are planning to pull desk-duty officers onto the street to help shore up patrols around schools that will be most affected by the upcoming CTA cuts.
Officials are bracing for more children being on the street for longer periods of time as they search out a new route or wait at a stop because of packed buses.
Another concern is that students will be crossing gang territories and walking in neighborhoods they don’t know. After-school programs that have youth staying well after dark are expected to be affected as well.
* The Sun-Times did a story about the gang turf problem earlier this month…
About 400 Steinmetz High School kids use the bus on Narragansett — not even a block away — to quickly get to and from the Northwest Side school every day.
But under the proposed CTA “doomsday” cuts on Nov. 4, they would have to scatter to new bus routes for longer commutes — some crossing through gang turfs.
One police officer in the area estimated there are more than a half-dozen gangs around the school.
* And the horror stories are really coming out with the deadline approaching…
Holding a cane in one hand and a piece of notebook paper less than an inch from her face in the other, Mary Anne Sullivan begged Chicago Transit Authority President Ron Huberman and the agency’s board Tuesday night to spare the bus routes she uses as they make budget cuts for 2008.
To make it to work on time, “I have to be [at a CTA bus stop] at 6:30 in the morning,” said Sullivan, 41, a Park Ridge resident who is visually impaired. “If I have to depend on Pace, I have to walk a mile and a half.”
* More CTA and session stuff, compiled by Paul…
* Clout Street: Daley calls out lawmakers on mass transit
NBC 5 was unable to track down Blagojevich to ask him directly what he thinks about the Madigan plan — but it isn’t for lack of trying.
In looking for Blagojevich, NBC 5 came first to his Ravenswood campaign office on the third floor. With no sign of the governor there or at his house on the Northwest Side, his staff finally told NBC5 Blagojevich was working out of the Thompson Center looking for a solution to the CTA crisis — just too busy to talk or for his staff to talk, either.
* That Tribune editorial musing about a possible recall is undoubtedly a big reason why he’s unavailable, but this governor has spent more time in the bunker than out during the past few years, so it’s no big surprise that NBC 5 couldn’t find him. Speaking of the Trib’s editorial, the SJ-R didn’t think much of it…
There is no doubt that Blagojevich has angered a lot of people, and that he has failed to act as an effective leader in many instances. But the Tribune’s insistence that Blagojevich is the last straw and that Illinois now must become the 19th state to allow for recall comes across less as a sound public policy than a personal vendetta.
Daley may well agree with some or all of the Tribune’s assessment. But he’s not about to support removing the two-term governor from office.
“Calling [for] a recall is unnecessary. I may have differences with the governor. But I really believe his mind is on public transportation and on infrastructure as [much as] everyone else. You can’t say just because I’m upset with [him about] an issue, two issues that you’re gonna have a recall. I disagree with that,” the mayor said.
“He is very, very smart. He’s been a state representative. He’s been congressman. He’s elected twice governor of the state of Illinois. It’s unfair. He’s a very smart and bright and emotional governor. Let’s be realistic.”
Hizzoner really wants the Olympic games to go that far.
* The Tribune was apparently so pleased with the responses to that recall editorial that it’s now soliciting comments about another issue…
What do you think? Do you support a regional sales tax increase for mass transit? Why or why not?
I wonder how they’ll respond if the public disagrees with their position in favor of the tax hike.
* Congressman Jackson hopes to expand the family empire…
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is seeking the go-ahead from the Federal Election Commission to help write the final chapter in a high-profile family feud that has roiled Democratic politics in Chicago for years: the Jacksons vs. the Beaverses.
The Illinois Democrat wants the FEC to determine whether he can provide financial backing from his reelection committee to the campaign of his wife, Sandi, for 7th Ward committeeman of the Cook County Democratic Party. The post is currently held by William Beavers, whose daughter, Darcel, was crushed by Sandi Jackson last February in the race for 7th Ward alderman. […]
The seven-term lawmaker said he would be willing to give $100,000 or more to his wife’s party campaign if that’s what it would take to win.
* I’ve had the results of a poll in that committeeman’s race for a couple of weeks, but completely forgot about them. The survey of 382 respondents was conducted for Ms. Jackson in early October by Lester & Associates…
Suppose the democratic primary election for 7th Ward Committeeman held today and the candidates were William Beavers and Sandi Jackson — for whom would you vote?
Jackson 69
Lean Jackson 3
Beavers 16
Lean Beavers 1
(Don’t know / Not sure) 11
Total Jackson 72
Total Beavers 17
Generally speaking, would you say William Beavers deserves to re-elected as 7th Ward Committeeman or would you say it is time for someone new?
Reelect 17
Someone new 71
(Don’t Know / Not Sure) 12
Would you say you approve or disapprove of the job William Beavers is doing as 7th Ward Committeeman?
Approve 25
Disapprove 49
(Don’t Know / Not Sure) 26
The poll also found that Mayor Daley was viewed favorably by 73 percent of people in the ward, while Congressman Jackson was viewed favorably by 82 percent, Ald. Jackson was viewed favorably by 75 and Bill Beavers was viewed favorably by just 36 percent and 42 percent viewed him unfavorably. Download the poll here.
* Meanwhile, if you had any doubts that the DCCC was serious in its targeting of freshman Republican Peter Roskam, then check this out…
Congressman Peter Roskam is one of seven Republican Congressmen targeted in radio ads by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for his vote backing President Bush’s veto of an expansion of a children’s health insurance program.
The DCCC said it bought a week’s worth of radio ads on a syndicated traffic and weather report that runs on dozens of Chicago radio stations.
The ad says “Did you know Congressman Roskam gets health care at taxpayers’ expense, but Roskam and Bush are blocking health care for 10 million uninsured children? Tell Peter Roskam to put kids first,” according to the DCCC. […]
In a prepared statement, Roskam said he supports reauthorizing SCHIP, but is opposed to its expansion, which he claims will cover “countless adults and illegal immigrants at taxpayer expense.”
* As I’ve told you before, Jill Morgenthaler is the Democrats’ candidate to run against Roskam. Morgenthaler’s primary opponent isn’t exactly a serious contender. Otherwise, she might have to answer for this…
Morgenthaler said that she normally backs Democratic candidates, but according to state election records, she voted in Republican primaries in 2002 and 2005, and only began voting in the Democratic primary last year.
You can see her voting history here. I’ve had it for a few days, but got busy with other things. Her campaign said in response: “If you want someone who can and will work work for people of both political parties, Jill is your girl.”
* Morgenthaler is resigning tomorrow from her state post as homeland security director, which brings up this problem…
She will also have to distance herself from Blagojevich, who has taken a beating over questionable campaign contributions and allegations he dispensed no-bid contracts to benefactors. […]
“She’s going to try and run as an outsider, but there’s stuff that she’s going to be tagged with in the Blagojevich world that could trip her up, message-wise,” said one Illinois Democratic operative. “It’s certainly not fatal, but it’s a distraction.”
* And, of course, this…
Meanwhile, her involvement as a spokeswoman for the Army during Abu Ghraib drew controversy even before she announced her candidacy.
In the first six months after Hostmark Hospitality Group began running it, the hotel showed a profit of more than $927,000.
During the same six-month period in 2006, the hotel showed a profit of only about $126,000, said Scott Burnham, spokesman for Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias.
Profit margins are important because the hotel was built with the help of a state-backed loan. Under a refinancing deal, the hotel’s owners had to make payments on the state loan only when the facility showed a profit. Giannoulias’ office said the hotel had made only two payments on the loan since 1998 and none in the past four years.
* Whistleblower accused of leaking report fights to keep state job
“That has to make you ask questions,” said Jack Jennings, head of the Washington-based Center on Education Policy. “It could be the schools are just highly focused — and that can be a problem if all they’re doing is preparing kids for the test. Another possible explanation is the test is too easy.”
Illinois education officials deny that’s the case, saying coursework closely tracks the concepts tested, giving teachers a clear roadmap — and better results.
For students shut out of the selective college preps like Payton, it can be like a “death sentence,” one activist said.
“Either you get into those schools or you’re in schools where you’re more likely to end up in prison than in college,” said Madeline Talbott, head organizer for Illinois ACORN.
The news of the growing achievement gap comes six years after passage of the federal No Child Left Behind law, which explicitly aims to narrow this gap. The law is up for re-authorization
Stroger can fill about 500 jobs at will, and spokesman Ibis Antongiorgi said he’s left dozens vacant and can fire anyone from those jobs at any time.
He did that this month when the Sun-Times revealed he had hired Patty Young, girlfriend to his ally, Commissioner William Beavers. Stroger called that hiring “a red herring” that didn’t reflect actual hiring patterns.
When you crack open and pour a beer you’ve already paid the city 9 cents for your six pack. If the mayor has his way, you’ll pay 17. The city wants to raise its taxes on beer more then 80 percent. The tax on wine and liquor would jump 50 percent. The city hopes to bring in an additional 13 million dollars.
* DuPage Co. likely to see flooding because of budget cutbacks
