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In bright yellow capital letters, the sign on the karaoke bar in downtown Peoria was clear: “WE ARE NOT A GAY BAR!!”

The local gay community got the message. And it apparently was just the rallying cry it needed.

* Illinois Ranks 5th in Foreclosure Filings

* Kane, Kendall foreclosures up from 2008

* Extra Unemployment Benefits Begin in Illinois

Some Illinois residents are now eligible for extra unemployment benefits. This comes as the state’s jobless rate climbs to its highest level in almost 25 years.

* 1 in 11 Illinoisans are jobless

* State unemployment hits 9.1%

* Quinn appoints Young to health planning board

* Quinn appoints friend to head health board

* Autism now insured, but parents say loopholes still exist

Parents of children with autism and other developmental disorders might be relieved of some of their heavy health care bills. A new law that Gov. Pat Quinn signed last week requires health insurers to pay for treatments such as physical, occupational and speech therapy. But Jane Park tells us that some parents continue to run into coverage problems.

* Madigan lawsuits target Frankfort, New Lenox contractors

Months after Phil and Jeanette Bradley handed $24,500 to Boss Construction to install new windows in their Frankfort home, no work had been done and owner Steven Smith wouldn’t refund their money.

* Plan would dramatically shorten trips from Chicago to other Midwest cities

Passenger trains traveling at 110 m.p.h.—arriving in Chicago from St. Louis in under four hours—could be operating in three or four years after President Barack Obama allocated $8 billion in federal stimulus money to begin building a national high-speed rail system, Illinois officials said Thursday.

Ten high-speed rail corridors were selected as high-priority projects, including a nine-state Midwestern network that will have routes radiating 3,000 miles across the region from a rail hub in Chicago.

The stimulus funding is backed up by a pledge of an additional $1 billion annually for five years for states to improve passenger rail and offer the public a more attractive alternative to the hassles of driving and flying.

* Envisioning the future: Rapid bus shoulders RTA goals

* Pace buses to use shoulder of I-55

* Airport Project in Peoria to Create Jobs

* U.S. Olympic Committe head admits IOC team grilled organizers about funding

* Arrests could generate big bucks for Peoria

A plan introduced Tuesday by 3rd District City Councilman Bob Manning asks if the city can assess a $20 or so fee on all arrests that are made within city limits.

* Holy Cow! Cheap beef costs more than the good stuff

At a time when choice cattle supplies have increased because of decreases in costs to raise them, the economic downturn has impacted demand for what the USDA labels “choice” beef compared to the lower quality “select” beef.

“Individual consumers are simply reaching for the select rather than choice,” said Chris Crawford, a senior livestock analyst for EHedger LLC, a Chicago-based commodities brokerage firm.

* Chicago crime: City panel renews push to realign police districts

* Southeast Side wards need more police, aldermen say

* Prostitution: Cook County sheriff’s office lends hand to women to stop prostitution

posted by Mike Murray
Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 10:13 am

Comments

Reliable, fast Midwestern rail service would be awesome. Could it really be happening this time?

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 10:22 am
wordslinger - keep trying to kick that football, Charlie Brown.

Comment by Leroy Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 10:27 am
I’m with you Word,

It’s the interstate highway project of our time. It needs to happen and it looks like it might finally get started.

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 11:00 am
Leroy, very apt and very funny.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 11:11 am
Sorry to be cynical, but this is just like Blago’s much ballyhooed “Stem Cell Research” money…what did Illinois get out of that?

And ask yourself this…how much has Europe and Japan spent on rail infrastructure over the last centruy? (And that includes rebuilding after they got bombed out twice during the wars)

Now HisSoliness Pope Obama I passes overhead throwing silver dollars from a Zeppelin, and I’m supposed to get excited? This money will disappear into the black hole with all the rest of ill-thought out and underfunded ‘feel good’ expenditures.

Give me high speed rail. Don’t waste my time.

Comment by Leroy Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 11:36 am
Let me get this straight–it’s not a gay bar–but they do karaoke 7 nights a week? O-kee-dokee, then.

Comment by cermak_rd Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 12:40 pm
spot on Cermak_rd!

Comment by Wow Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 1:37 pm
Regular trains can go 90 mph, so even amtrak could go a lot faster than it does. 110 mph isn’t that much faster than 90. The problem is freight interference and track maintenance. We don’t need a whole new technology to get much better rail service than we have now. Sure, high speed rail sounds sexy, but why does anyone think we’d be more committed to taking care of that infrastructure than the rest of what we have? CTA could go a lot faster than it does, and so could Metra if the whole thing were grade separated. Ah, but we don’t want to invest in that.

Comment by NoGiftsPlease Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 2:46 pm
Ummm.. exactly how much will the real cost per ride from Chicago to St Louis be if this new “spruce goose” train is built?

When you compare it to air flight costs, I would guess that you’re talking double or triple the real, subsidized cost including repayment of construction costs.

At one time America was known for finding ways to make things work faster and cheaper, and we set the tempo for the world.

Now in Obama’s Amerika he’s “investing” in slower, less efficient transportation that has little demand.

Chicago-St Louis is not Tokyo-Osaka my friend.

I weep for the future.

Comment by PalosParkBob Saturday, Apr 18, 09 @ 12:24 am