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* Creditors may get control of Tribune Co.: report

Tribune Co. and its creditors are in early negotiations for a reorganization plan in Bankruptcy Court that would likely transfer control of the media conglomerate from billionaire Sam Zell to a group of large banks and investors, the Chicago Tribune said, citing sources.

The plan centers on a debt-for-equity swap that would likely give the lenders, who hold $8.6 billion in senior debt, a large majority ownership stake in the reorganized company, the paper said.

Under the plan, a $90-million warrant, which Zell negotiated as part of his $8.2-billion deal to take the company private in 2007, would be wiped out, a source with knowledge of the situation and plan told the paper.

* WSCR has its eye on FM dial

* Neither NRA, Chicago giving up on gun fight

* Guns and justice

* Falling CAPS Turnout Disturbs Residents

* Fines seem to work where logic fails

* Cameras already teach us not to run red lights

* Nearby wind farm may double in size

Fenz said the company pays between $12,000 and $16,000 a year in taxes for each turbine. Because the tax-supported ambulance association serves the development area, the association expects to get $190,000 a year from the existing turbines.

Schools also benefit. Ridgeview Superintendent Larry Dodds said his district expects to get about $1.7 million in tax money from the existing turbines. If 300 are added, the district might see another $3 million a year, he said.

Of the existing turbines, 161 are within school district boundaries. Dodds believes the planned expansion would bring 250 more within the boundaries.

* Midwest Could Pay Big in New Energy Economy

Schemes to put a price on climate-change pollution would be expensive for the Midwest, according to the report commissioned by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. That’s because the region is a big polluter. The report finds that the heartland produces 1/20 of all the carbon emissions worldwide, mostly because the Midwest burns so much coal. Council president Marshal Bouton says that makes it all the more important for Midwestern states to speak up as the policies are being formed.

* Gas goes up as demand goes down

* Potential Rate Hike for Ameren Customers

On Friday… Ameren Illinois Utilities filed a request with the Illinois Commerce Commission seeking a 266 million dollar rate hike for delivering electricity and natural gas. Ameren officials are calling the action an effort to ensure the utilities will continue to have the resources needed to provide “a reliable, safe energy delivery system.”

In response to the proposed rate hike— – the president of the Citizen’s Utility board released this statement. “Ameren’s 226 million dollar rate–hike proposal is a slap in the face to consumers who already are struggling to pay monthly bills during the economic downturn.”

The ink is barely dry on Ameren’s 160 million dollar rate hike, approved just last year, and the company is back at the table, asking state regulators for a new 226 million dollar increase.

* Ameren asking for rate increases

* LPGA, State Farm close to signing deal

The chairman of the board of directors for the LPGA State Farm Classic said Sunday an agreement in principle has been reached to keep the women’s professional golf tournament in Springfield beyond this year.

* Can the Arch grounds include Illinois?

The National Park Service is backing a plan that calls for growing the park into Illinois, potentially making good on a decades-old dream of extending the Arch grounds into East St. Louis.

“Going back to Saarinen, the idea was there would be something on that side,” park superintendent Tom Bradley said. “Although the public really likes the idea of having something over there, it hasn’t really been tested with the Illinois community.”

* East St. Louis park offers new view, new vision

posted by Mike Murray
Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 9:51 am

Comments

  1. One wonders what other amendments to the U.S. Constitution the city of Chicago feels don’t apply to them. If the 2nd amendment doesn’t apply why should the 1st or 4th or 5th? Who gets to determine this ala carte constitutionalism?

    Comment by Steve Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 10:05 am

  2. The Zell may lose control of Tribune piece that you reference is very disappointing. It is a muddle of sources, most of which are not identified, some attacking others. You can’t keep straight what is happening and as with any article that prominently features anonymous sources, the reader doesn’t know what knives are being used to cut the story. Oneal has written a very disappointing piece. See my analysis here: http://tinyurl.com/lmz44n

    Comment by Lou Grant Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 10:07 am

  3. I hope they start with a bulldozer on the ESL side of the Mississippi…

    Comment by Vote Quimby! Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 10:34 am

  4. “Who gets to determine this ala carte constitutionalism?”

    The Supreme Court.

    Via the doctrine of incorporation, the Supreme Court has basically determined which portions of the Bill of Rights apply to States (and by extension, municipalities) and which do not. (I find this crazy - but I am not a constitutional scholar)

    And if I have taken the context correctly, Heller will not necessarily cause the SC to overturn the Chicago ban, in part because DC is, per the Constitution, a federal district, distinct from the states. So the SC would have to incorporate the 2A fully to overturn Chicago’s ban.

    I tend to think the ban is a well-intended but wrongheaded solution. I am curious to see how or if the court will handle it.

    Comment by JonShibleyFan Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 2:02 pm

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