Quinn

* New leadership for a board with history of corruption

The board approves major construction projects and equipment purchases for health care facilities in Illinois. They could include such improvements as “who gets to have an MRI machine and who gets to build a new wing,” according to Chris Mooney, political studies professor with the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

The choices the board makes have a substantial financial impact on many in the health care industry. Because of that, Mooney described the board as “a place that has attraction to those who are interested in making money.”

* ‘An Opportunity for Total Corruption’

Gov. Pat Quinn. on Friday, named Dr. Quentin Young to head the Health Facilities Planning Board, which determines whether and where hospitals can expand.

U.S. Rep. Mark S. Kirk (R-Highland Park), considering a run for governor, says these are decisions best left to the market. “I don’t know why we need an Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board,” he said. “It’s just an opportunity for total corruption.”

But Quinn says health care can’t be left entirely to the whim of market forces. He says health care is not just another product on the market, available to serve the most profitable customers. “Health care is a fundamental right of every person in this country,” Quinn said. “Every citizen should have decent health care.”

Young says there is no perfect way to balance regulation vs. competition, but he says the board is an effort to assure that health care expenditures are made in areas that are not served, instead of in areas already well served.

* SJ-R Opinion: Reopening a welcome sign of change

Reopening the house won’t undo all those problems, but it’s a strong and much-needed reminder that things are moving forward.

* Gov. Quinn’s pick to head Illinois DNR had early start on love of outdoors

* Get specific at energy summit

Today U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and other political and business leaders will gather at Southwestern Illinois College to take part in an energy summit.

IL Budget & Taxes

* Tribune Editorial: It’s the jobs

If anyone wants to know why the state is having fiscal problems, the answer is pretty obvious: It’s the jobs, stupid. Government bodies in Illinois tend to look at job-producing companies not as assets to be cultivated and nurtured, but as vaults of money to be plundered. Unfortunately for us, those firms have many alternatives, since plenty of other states are far more hospitable. So that’s where employment growth can be found.

* Groups Want More Money State Money For Tax Relief

Groups such as Voices for Illinois Children, the Center for Budget and Tax Accountability, and Protestants for the Common Good, seek to increase the Earned Income Tax Credit from 5 percent to 20 percent. If this is done, a family of four making less than $42,000 a year would be eligible to get as much as $1,000 back from the state, depending upon how much they receive back from the federal government.

Sean Noble of Voices for Illinois Children, estimates such an increase would cost the state around $350 million a year, and hopes a quadrupled EITC will come on the heels of Gov. Pat Quinn�s proposed personal exemption increase.

* Supervised visitation centers: A safe haven for children and mothers amid threats of violence

But many of these facilities do not have adequate resources to meet demand and struggle with a lack of state support and declines in private contributions, officials say. At the same time, federal “Safe Haven” start-up grants that provide crucial funding are phased out over time.

“We used to be hanging by a string, but now we’re hanging by a thread,” said Brenda Thompson, the institute’s president.

* Early Childhood Advocacy Day

You can help prevent state budget cuts to early childhood programs. Governor Pat Quinn’s recent budget proposed to cut funding to home visiting, child care and children’s mental health programs. If approved, these cuts will prevent some children and families from receiving services. It is not too late to prevent these cuts. Join the Ounce of Prevention Fund in Springfield for Early Childhood Advocacy Day to tell state legislators why early childhood programs are important. Together, we can ensure that children in your community get the vital services they need to grow up healthy and ready for success in school.

* This is the worst time to cut services

* More taxes would be optional under bill

Rep. Tim Schmitz, R-Batavia, wants to test the public’s appetite for tax increases by allowing Illinoisans to voluntarily pay more on their income tax forms. The idea has its supporters, but critics say it’s nothing more than a misleading stunt.

Schmitz believes the amount of money put into the fund can also be used as “a first barometer” to determine whether the public will accept future tax increases — such as Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposal to raise the individual income tax from 3 percent to 4.5 percent.

* Illinois allows counties to use property tax caps to slow the rate of growth

* Up in smoke?

Illinois is one of 22 states that, as of April 9, had legislation pending to raise tobacco taxes, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Gov. Pat Quinn highlighted cigarette taxes as part of a plan to decrease the state’s $11.5 billion budget deficit, and the plan, Senate Bill 44, predicts an additional $1 tax would generate at least $350 million more a year.

Quinn and the rest of Springfield likely will end up disappointed, said John Nothdurft, budget and tax legislative specialist for The Heartland Institute, a Chicago-based free-market think tank. Nothdurft in an April 1 paper stated that only 16 of the past 57 state tobacco tax hikes met or exceeded revenue estimates, and at least one, New Jersey, lost money.

* Illinois Protests Taxes Statewide

* SJ-R Opinion: Protest … but don’t ignore facts

GA and Ethics Reform

* More taxes would be optional under bill

* Police crosswalk stings will target drivers who don’t yield to pedestrians

* Transit agencies push for capital bucks

Metra, Pace and the Chicago Transit Authority officials say their agencies need about $10 billion in capital funding to replace old cars, buses, locomotives, stations and rail infrastructure - and to expand and improve service in the future.

As it turns out, RTA leaders were preaching to the choir. Lawmakers from the city and suburbs agreed a capital program that helps public transit is long overdue.

* It’s time the Legislature allows civil unions

* Legislators’ tuition waivers costly to other students

Each of Illinois’ 177 legislators annually can dole out eight years of tuition as they see fit — any combination of two four-year scholarships, four two-year scholarships, or eight one-year scholarships.

About 1,500 students attend state universities each year with these waivers at a cost of $12.5 million to the universities.

“For every student that gets a waiver there, somebody else has to pay for it. So tuition goes up again. So all of those things go in to a calculation of how much tuition (universities) need to charge,” said Judy Erwin, executive director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

* Pantagraph Op-ED: Approve bill to reform ‘member initiative’ rules

So-called “member initiatives” are, in effect, Illinois’ version of federal earmarks. They also have been a way for legislative leaders to reward or punish those who don’t follow their edicts.

A bill passed unanimously by the Illinois House earlier this month would bring more openness to the process and limit the power of a governor to block approved expenditures.

Introduced by state Rep. Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, House Bill 310’s cosponsors include Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, and Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth.

Shining more light on these “initiatives” should cut down on wasteful, inappropriate spending. The Senate should approve HB 310, and Gov. Pat Quinn should sign it.

* Rank projects before spending our tax money

With that in mind, we think there is a bill that needs to be passed in the spirit of reform and in the interest of spending our transportation money wisely. It especially is important this year as Gov. Patrick Quinn is proposing to increase the gasoline tax to pay for all the work that has been ignored and needs to be done. If Springfield wants more of our money then they need to change the process in how they spend it.

That’s the essence of legislation sponsored chiefly by state Rep. Kathy Ryg, a Vernon Hills Democrat, and co-sponsored by Republican Rep. Sidney Mathias of Buffalo Grove. They have the backing of the planning groups Chicago Metropolis 2020 and the Metropolitan Planning Council.

“There is no decent system for making capital decisions in Illinois,” said George A. Ranney, president and CEO of Chicago Metropolis 2020. “Billions of dollars are spent on unfounded decisions or political decisions.”

And there lies the rub for legislators. Getting transportation dollars spent back home is a time-honored political tradition. Some of our elected leaders may not want to give up that power.

* Tribune Editorial: If not for those wiretaps …

That’s just wrong. Granted, nobody wants voters hounding well-intentioned officials from office because of their unpopular yet arguably necessary acts. But there’s no evidence that this happens often in the 18 states that give voters the power to recall state officials: Only two U.S. governors— North Dakota’s Lynn Frazier in 1921 and California’s Gray Davis Jr. in 2003—ever have been recalled.

Illinois needs to be the 19th state and, with Jones retired, perhaps it will. The staff of his successor as Senate president, John Cullerton, counts seven House and Senate recall bills now in committees. Our favorite, sponsored by Sen. Dan Cronin and three other Republicans, would permit elections to recall state executive officers, members of the General Assembly and Supreme Court, appellate and circuit court judges.

Cullerton says he won’t block legislation that would put a recall amendment on the ballot, although he worries that including judges could crimp their ability to make decisions that could infuriate voters. The obvious retort is that moving to appointed rather than elected judges is a better way to protect their independence from public pressure. But if the only way to get a recall amendment is to give judges a carve-out, that’s better than the nothing we have now.

* Let’s make Alabama as ethical as Illinois

* Bowden is one public servant doing it right

But in 18 years, Bowden hasn’t taken a penny. She runs on her record and occasionally hosts her own campaign events over homemade cream puffs and coffee.

While it’s become commonplace to scoff at elected officials - I often commit this space to griping about them - it’s also the media’s obligation to point out the good guys. In an occasional series on this page, “Public officials doing it right,” Bowden is the latest to earn that recognition.

IL Congressional Delegation

* Once high-flying Triple J is losing altitude

Jackson boasts bringing tens of millions in juicy pork to Illinois’ Second Congressional District, on the South Side and south suburbs. His unflinching advocacy for a third airport in Peotone drew national attention and a recent $100 million green light from Gov. Quinn.

Now the headlines are getting ugly. Now the mouths at the Dirksen Federal Building are spilling salacious, off-the-record but damning details. Political “friends” of the Jackson family are allegedly chatting up investigators, about pay-to-play and quid pro quo.

* Quigley Prepares for Congress

Former Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley is expected to be sworn in Tuesday as an U.S. congressman. Quigley says he’ll continue to be a reformer and immediately start solving his constituents’ problems. But Paul Green, a political professor at Roosevelt University, says Quigley won’t have much clout in Congress.

GREEN: This is not the county board. No he’s not going to have the kind of access to the media. When people want to hear about Illinois there not going to go to Mike Quigley.

* Son of Hastert exploring run in 14th District

Ethan Hastert, the youngest son of former Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert, said Friday he is exploring a run as a Republican candidate against incumbent Bill Foster.

* Is Hastert’s son eyeing dad’s old seat?

* Manzullo voices displeasure with big government

Manzullo, R-Egan, has never been keen on big government, except when he is using it to bring some modest pork projects back to the 16th District. But even I was a bit shocked by his strident tone, which to me expressed a deep frustration that the conservatives have lost the short-term debate about the role of government in our lives. It’s clear we’re going to get a whole lot more of it, which is no surprise. It’s what Barack Obama promised when he ran for president.

* An Illinois Congressman Says Economy Not Improving

While two Republican congressmen from Illinois don’t agree with President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, they do have opinions on how it should be spent. Both Reps. Aaron Schock (R-Peoria) and John Shimkus (R-Collinsville) say now that the federal government has tried bailing out the banks and big businesses, they believe the federal government should do more to help small businesses.

* Bernard Schoenburg: Colbert puts Schock on the spot

* Rep. Gutierrez visits Salinas

Hundreds of farm workers inside a popular east Salinas church welcomed U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, waving their red union flags and chanting “Si Se Puede” on Friday evening.

Gutierrez told members of the United Farm Workers Union and other Salinas residents at St. Mary of the Nativity Church to organize and to demand that President Obama honor a promise he made during his campaign.

“He asked us to vote for him… and we did,” Gutierrez told the audience in Spanish. “He promised us that if we voted for him he would sign an immigration reform in the first year of his first term.”

* Labor agreement could backfire on immigration reform

Democrats, including Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), the lead sponsor of the House version of the 2007 McCain and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) comprehensive reform bill, applauded the agreement, but did not mention any of the potential new rifts it has caused.

But Congressional aides close to those discussions have said that the labor agreement could complicate those efforts.

* Brown becoming the new green at local UPS

About 150 people gathered last Friday at the UPS facility on Aurora’s far East Side as the delivery giant showcased one of seven hydraulic hybrid trucks the company has been working with the Environmental Protection Agency to develop during the last two years.

Among those in attendance was U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert, who applauded the collaboration between UPS and the EPA. Maintaining an emphasis on alternative energies is even more crucial now that gas prices have gone down and people are less worried about high fuel costs, Biggert said.

Economic Stories

* Exxon Mobil overtakes Wal-Mart to top Fortune 500

Fortune’s list, released Sunday, ranked companies by their revenue in 2008. Irving, Texas-based Exxon took in $442.85 billion in revenue last year, up almost 19 percent from 2007. The company also raked in the biggest annual profit, earning $45.2 billion.

Although it may have been a good year for Exxon and Wal-Mart, 2008 was far from rosy for most of remaining companies on the list. Overall earnings plunged 85 percent to $98.9 billion from $645 billion in 2007, the biggest one-year decline in the 55-year history of the Fortune 500 list.

* Bank of America posts 1Q profit, surpasses view

* GM exec says 1,600 will lose jobs in next few days

* State takes conservation police applications

* Hobby Lobby increases pay

Stokes is among 6,900 Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. employees from a nationwide work force of 18,000 who saw their pay rise to at least $10 an hour at the direction of company founder and CEO David Green. The increase applied to full-time, hourly workers.

The Illinois minimum wage, which is higher than the federal, is $7.75 an hour. It is scheduled to increase to $8 an hour on July 1 and $8.25 on July 1, 2010.

* Havana plant takes aim at carp

* Illinois’ struggles: Economic woes take their toll across the state

But as the worst economic downturn in decades strengthens its grip and sheds jobs at a faster pace than any time since the end of World War II, families are hunkering down and cutting back.

More than 570,000 people in Illinois were out of work in February — the most since 1983 — representing 8.6 percent of the work force.

The pain is hitting all industries — from the Chrysler plant in Belvidere to Caterpillar in Peoria; from steelmakers in Granite City to attorneys and bankers in Chicago. Cities are struggling to provide basic services. And homes continue to slip into foreclosure, as more laid-off workers miss mortgage payments.

* Krug: 
Debts and debtors, take heed

So we’re going to have to be a tad more logical about this. We can’t leverage the courts to make people pay their debts. And it’s not OK to skip court because you can’t afford to be there.

So let’s follow a simple line of logic: Know whom you owe, how much you owe, and how you are going to pay it back, show up in court. And wear sunblock.

* Woman tries to build a future in tough times

Gallaway found herself among the now nearly 2 million construction industry workers who are unemployed, according to U.S. government data. That’s about a 9 percent increase from last year.

In March alone, 126,000 construction jobs disappeared.

Many are trying to learn new skills in anticipation of a new job. Union officials say laborers logged 77 percent more training hours in 2008 than the average of the past five years. Already in 2009, that number has jumped 34 percent.

* Jobless resume seekers take emotional toll on printer

Their stories have left him drained.

“I had no idea the impact it would have. You have no idea how many people are out of jobs,” he said. “The reality started to set in. It started getting to me.”

* Making a little go a long way

One in every 10 Americans today is on food stamps, putting the total at a record 32.2 million people.

Enrollment in the government’s anti-hunger program rose in 46 of the 50 states during January.

This month, recipients got a boost in benefits. The maximum monthly amount a person could receive increased by 13.6 percent, allowing a family of four a total of $668 in benefits.

* How skinny people could save the world

Researchers claim ‘global trend toward fatness’ hard on environment

* Global Economic Leaders Gather in Chicago to Advance Financial Literacy

Chicago City Hall

* Durbin, Daley to announce economic stimulus money for Chicago’s Blue Line

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley plan to announce federal economic stimulus money that will be spent to update the Chicago Transit Authority’s Blue Line trains.

Durbin and Daley have set a Monday morning news conference outside a Blue Line station. The mayor, senator and other public officials will announce that the money will be used to start repairs on the Blue Line. The goal is to remove slow zones along the train line.

* City, unions seek to avoid layoffs: Daley

“We’re trying to work this out,” he said. “They’ve been at the table. They’ve been talking to us about all these issues.”

The Chicago Sun-Times reported last week that union leaders had been told the city might have to lay off 1,600 workers — but no sworn police officers or firefighters — unless organized labor agrees to another round of givebacks to eliminate a potential $300 million shortfall.

“The unions are understanding this,” said Daley. “No one wants to lay anybody off.”

Daley wouldn’t comment on a recent controversy for Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, who Friday ousted his cousin and top aide, Chief Financial Officer Donna Dunnings, amid questions about her dealings with a recently fired patronage worker. Daley supported Stroger when he replaced his father, John Stroger, as board president.

* Mayor Richard Daley set to announce “Talk Like Shakespeare Day”

On Monday, Mayor Richard Daley is to announce that Thursday, William Shakespeare’s 445th birthday, is to be “Talk Like Shakespeare Day,” an occasion for Chicagoans to import the spoken words of the Bard of Avon into their everyday conversations.

* Da Bard: ‘Talk Like Shakespeare Day’ coming to Chicago

* No conflict, John Daley says

Cook County Commissioner John Daley seems conflicted. He has been assured by the state’s attorney’s office that there’s nothing to prevent him from voting on contracts the Cook County Board gives to his insurance clients. Yet, rather than vote “yes” or “no,” Daley prefers to vote “present” when the board gives a contract to one of his clients.

“There’s a concern about appearance, the perception of it,” Daley says. “We concluded we do not have any economic interest simply because we provide brokerage service … I would just rather not be part of any of those votes.”

* Committee helping pick CSU president resigns

Chicago State University trustees said today they will announce their decision about the next university president at a board meeting April 29.

Meanwhile, nearly all of the committee members appointed to advise the trustees on the presidential search resigned today, saying they felt excluded from the process and therefore could not recommend either of the two finalists.

* City’s plan to swing wrecking ball at Reese Hospital for 2016 Olympics under national spotlight

Other Interesting and News Worthy Items

* Area’s only black-owned radio station celebrates 2 decades

Champaign-Urbana took some time out Friday night to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the only black-owned radio station between Chicago and St. Louis.

“We’re going to be around another 20 years,” sales manager Dwayne Hubbard said Friday.

* Chicagoans help StreetWise keep doing what it’s doing

They’re not the only ones. Since news of StreetWise’s financial woes surfaced last week, donations have poured in, with as many as 300 individuals stepping up, offering gifts as little as $20 or $30 or whatever they could afford. Some big guns also have chipped in, including a single $25,000 donation.

StreetWise sounded the alarm bells last week, saying a $75,000 deficit had to be filled to keep its doors open. After just a few days of publicity, StreetWise is more than halfway there, with appointments with other potential large donors scheduled for the weeks ahead.

At a time when layoffs are legion and personal savings have been eviscerated, the overwhelming response says a lot about the spirit of this town. Chicagoans still have it in their hearts to dig deep to help.

* Newspapers try to maintain civil, intelligent conversations with readers

* Chicago-area Holocaust museum opens

* Illinois Holocaust Museum: Bill Clinton featured at opening event

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton opened the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center in Skokie on Sunday with a speech that thanked survivors for their courage to educate others during a time when genocide still unfolds across the world.

An estimated 12,000 people slogged through rain to attend the opening day’s ceremony, held beneath a tent outdoors, that included a videotaped statement by President Barack Obama and the appearance of Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, hip-hop violinist Miri Ben-Ari, the German ambassador to the United States and other dignitaries also participated in opening festivities. The $45 million museum culminates years of work by Holocaust survivors, who were stirred to take action in the mid-1970s when a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi group threatened to march in Skokie. The march never took place, but survivors formed a foundation and speakers bureau that opened a small storefront museum on Main Street.

* Photo gallery: Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center opens

* Holocaust teaches lessons for today

* Museum brings some Hogwarts to Hyde Park

“Harry Potter: The Exhibition” opens at the South Side museum April 30 and runs through Sept. 27. The Museum of Science and Industry will be the only Midwest location on the exhibit’s U.S. tour.

* Message from pulpits: Stop sexual violence

In an unprecedented move in the Chicago area, more than a dozen churches on the city’s West Side delivered coordinated sermons on sexual violence Sunday, saying it was time for a widespread but often hidden problem to be addressed from the pulpit.

* Police crosswalk stings will target drivers who don’t yield to pedestrians

Ninety-eight pedestrians were killed in vehicle-related accidents in the six-county Chicago region in 2007, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. Thirty-nine were in Chicago. Statewide, there were 171 pedestrian fatalities in 2007.

The proposed “must stop” law is needed to clarify the responsibilities of both drivers and pedestrians, said Dan Persky, legal counsel at the Active Transportation Alliance, which focuses on issues affecting bicyclists, pedestrians and transit riders.

* Police crosswalk stings will target drivers who don’t yield to pedestrians

* Chicago Police Go Undercover as Pedestrians

Chicago Police are expected to go undercover Monday to catch drivers who do not yield to pedestrians on crosswalks. The police conducted a similar sting operation last year. Dozens of drivers were pulled over and given warnings. But police spokesperson Roderick Drew says law breakers this time can expect much worse.

* Pothole breeding ground

Byrne figures the railroads have spent about $20 million so far on viaduct and street repair.

“They’re putting dollars into our infrastructure,” said Byrne, whose department meets weekly with the railroads. “They don’t want us telling them that their viaducts are unsafe. They understand it and they’re working with us. . . . I’m very happy with the progress we’re making.”

* Ill. fire department uses oxygen masks for pets

A southern Illinois fire department says it will be better prepared to help rescue dogs and cats from house fires.

A pet advocacy group has donated several specially-fitted oxygen masks to the Belleville Fire Department.

* Patrick Fitzgerald to Take the Witness Stand

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is scheduled to be in federal court Monday but not as a prosecutor.

Fitzgerald will on the witness stand testifying in the case of a deputy U.S. Marshall who allegedly passed information on to the mob about a witness in the Witness Protection Program.

* Ambrose trial brings secret fed witness program into spotlight

* Illinois meth arrests decline

“Four years ago you could walk in the woods and find all kinds of stuff,” said Illinois State Police Master Sergeant Daryl Grammer, who leads the meth unit in southern Illinois. “It’s getting harder to find now.”

Although police made fewer arrests, the amount of the various forms of meth seized was about 10 times greater in 2008 than in 2007.

* 271 million pounds of drugs taint U.S. water

U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water — contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Press investigation.

* Report: Chicago suburb supplied contaminated water

CRESTWOOD, Ill. — Officials in a south Chicago suburb knowingly drew drinking water from a contaminated well for more than two decades, even after warnings by state environmental officials, according to a published report.

Records show Environmental Protection Agency officials cited contaminated tap water in Crestwood in the mid-1980s, saying it contained dangerous chemicals related to a dry-cleaning solvent, according to Sunday editions of the Chicago Tribune.

The water was contaminated with chemicals linked to perchloroethylene, or PCE, which is believed to cause cancer.

At times, 20 percent of the village’s water supply came from the contaminated well, according to the Tribune.

* Poison in the well

Since then, the EPA has cited Crestwood twice for violating environmental laws, yet has failed to notify people who drank the well water for years. The agency continues to investigate, and Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan’s office also is looking into the matter.

* Lincoln stamps collection sold for nearly $2 mil

* White Sox to visit White House

* Sox getting White House tour

* Blackhawks Win Game 2

* The Hawks’ playoff payoff

“Our goal is to be mainstream Chicago,” said Jay Blunk, the senior vice-president of business operations. “That’s what winning will do for us.”

Look no further than the television audience for the first game against Calgary. The Hawks did a 4.45 rating on Comcast SportNet, meaning an estimated 155,000 households tuned in. That was the highest local cable rating in 15 years for the Hawks.

For the last 90 minutes of the overtime thriller from 9-10:30 p.m., the game was the highest rated program in the Chicago area for adults, ages 25-54, the key demographic for advertisers.

* Derrick Rose Dazzles in Playoff Debut