* NEW: Farmers going to or from fields fear becoming road-kill

The inevitable tension on rural roadways has forced many farmers—especially in the collar counties—to rearrange their harvesting schedule around rush hour. Instead of heading to their fields at sunrise, some are getting started after 9 a.m., or even in the middle of the night to avoid encounters with commuters.

* NEW: Economic Slump Could Hit Chicago Hard

University of Illinois at Chicago economist John McDonald has studied the Chicago area for decades. He says most local industries, whether construction or banking, health care or hospitality, will recover.

McDONALD: Those are sectors that are cyclical and will come back. What is truly damaging for the Chicago metropolitan area, based on what has been the case in previous recessions, we lose our manufacturing base, and it does not come back.

* NEW: Ford to cut nearly 800 jobs at its Chicago factory

Ford will cut 792 jobs at its Southeast Side assembly plant when it drops to one shift early next month, according to a filing with the state.

Separately, two suppliers to Ford told state officials they’ll pare 168 jobs from their payrolls.

Previously, Ford said 600 part-time positions would be eliminated when it cuts one shift at the factory, 12600 S. Torrence Ave. The automaker also had said the move would result in a loss of full-time jobs but hadn’t been more specific.

* NEW: Bloomington could be hit hardest by financial crisis?

More than one-quarter of it’s residents work in those industries and Bloomington is home to companies like State Farm and Country Financial.

The magazine says the impact of a downturn could be more serious in smaller cities that are less diversified.

* NEW: Casino talk surfaces in Illinois’ south suburbs

* Debate puts Senate race in spotlight

Republican Senate candidate Steve Sauerberg accused incumbent Dick Durbin of turning a blind eye to Democratic dysfunction in Springfield and also called for keeping American troops in Iraq as the two candidates met Monday in their first debate.

The two debated for only about 25 minutes during the PBS program “Chicago Tonight.” Still, the faceoff offered Sauerberg a rare moment in the spotlight to challenge Durbin and let voters know the Senate seat is up for grabs next month.

* Health care at issue in Senate debate

Sen. Dick Durbin and Republican Steve Sauerberg clashed over the nation’s health care crisis Monday, with the Democratic incumbent accusing the family practice physician of proposing an end to government-backed insurance for the poor and elderly in favor of a program using tax credits to purchase private insurance.

Sauerberg criticized Durbin’s support for what the challenger contended was a pork-laden $800 billion government bailout of financial firms, saying it should have been “a wonderful opportunity to do some free-market type changes” that included cuts in corporate taxes and a moratorium on capital gains taxes.

* U. of I. reverses controversial ban on political activity

The University of Illinois said Monday that it would allow employees to display political bumper stickers, wear political buttons and attend political rallies on campus, reversing an earlier interpretation of state ethics law that has drawn sharp criticism. “We, the leadership of the University of Illinois, will preserve, protect and defend the constitutionally guaranteed rights of every member of our university community,” university President Joseph White said in a public advisory. Certain activities barred under the earlier interpretation, he wrote, “conflict, or appear to conflict, with fundamental freedoms.”

* U of I: Workers can campaign, but not on the job

* Pontiac Prison: inmates being transferred?

* Union seeks court order to stop Pontiac prisoner transfer

* Union objects to Illinois’ plan to move 100 Pontiac inmates

* Cook Co. health ‘billion-dollar budget’ remains a mystery

Three days after the Cook County Health and Hospitals System publicly debated and passed a “billion-dollar budget,” it continued Monday to refuse to present the document to the public.

The failure to produce the document also comes three days after Cook County Chief Financial Officer Donna Dunnings promised a reporter the document would be produced Monday.

* Lisa Madigan ‘thinking about’ gubernatorial run

* Countrywide borrowers bailed out

A loan modification program that’s part of an $8.7 billion national settlement about deceptive mortgage practices will help tens of thousands of borrowers stay in their homes and could be a national model, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said Monday.

On Monday, Madigan’s office discussed details of the settlement negotiated with Bank of America to settle a predatory lending lawsuit against Countrywide Financial, which Bank of America acquired during the summer

* Madigan Reaches Multi-Million Dollar Deal with Countrywide

* Relief in sight for Countrywide’s Illinois customers

More than 10,800 Illinois families with home loans from troubled Countrywide Financial are about to get some relief.

The nation’s No. 1 subprime mortgage lender settled a massive fraud suit Monday by agreeing to cut some loan rates to as low as 2.5 percent. Altogether, the settlement means loan relief of about $185 million for Countrywide customers in Illinois, Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced.

* Aldermen want to give divorcing homeowners a break

* After disbanding scandal-plagued Special Operations Section, Chicago police to start special gang unit

Specialized units designed to fight gangs have been a double-edged sword for decades in the Chicago Police Department. Officers assigned to such units develop a high-level of expertise and intelligence in dealing with gangs and tend to make a lot of arrests and take violent drug dealers off the streets. Department leaders said they were key to a 25 percent drop in homicides in 2004

* Aldermen question lease of Midway Airport

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s $2.5 billion plan to privatize Midway Airport got stuck on the tarmac Monday, amid a barrage of questions from aldermen. They sought answers on a range of issues, from police protection to parking and shopping costs to whether the city was getting top dollar during the credit crunch.

Aldermen had so many concerns about the historic 99-year lease that Ald. Edward Burke (14th), chairman of the city council’s finance committee, was forced to postpone a vote. The committee will reconvene today to further debate the proposal.

* Aldermen question city on airport concessions

* Mayor’s airport lease deal discussed but no vote today

The administration provided more details about the plan today.

Of the amount that the private operators would pay, $1.15 billion would pay off Midway debt; $225 million would go toward a new fund for police and fire service at the airport; and $126 million would pay for ongoing projects, including a program to sound-proof nearby homes.

* Kaneland teachers file intent to strike

On Sunday, the teacher’s union voted 267 to 11 in favor of sending the district a 10-day notice of intent to strike. The notice does not guarantee a strike will actually occur, but paves the way for a walkout if negotiations tank this week.

* U46 officials focus on mentoring at-risk boys

Across U46, more than 100 central office administrators, principals, assistant principals, deans and department heads are taking on 10 male students this year in grades four through 12 as part of the district’s new plan called the “10 Boys Initiative.” It’s based on a similar program created by Ingrid Carney, former deputy superintendent of Boston Public Schools, in 2007.

* U-46 launches initiative to mentor 1,200 students

* Buffalo Grove checks progress on flood issues

* Briefs: FEMA relief for Bartlett

* Des Plaines still dealing with fallout from flood

* Electronic DuPage court call to smooth paper trail

In an effort to further modernize Illinois’ second-largest judicial system, authorities unveiled a new electronic court call that eventually will make the paper dockets that hang outside courtrooms obsolete.

* But you can put lipstick on Mike Quigley’s chief of staff …

Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley’s chief of staff Kimberly Walz once was a beauty queen — Miss Freeport, Ill. — and now she’s a finalist in Sephora.com’s Posie Gal Contest.