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Illinois

* Governor, AFSCME mum on contract meeting

* Quinn not worried yet about video poker bans

* Town by town, critics fight video poker in Illinois

* Counties opting out of video poker could complicate state building plans

* Odds of success for video poker look pretty slim

* Orland Park won’t ban video gaming for now

* Gamblers needed to bankroll state’s construction plan

* If Illinois blows this …

* Trib boss Zell on way out

Eight months after the filing, two sources familiar with the process said creditors are working on a reorganization plan that elbows Zell aside. The creditors, including investment banks owed $8.6 billion from Zell’s Tribune takeover, would stage a takeover of their own and sell off the company’s newspapers and broadcast stations as they see fit.

“The banks will be in charge,” one insider said, adding that they are growing impatient with Zell’s stewardship. The bankruptcy court on Monday granted Zell extended time, until Nov. 30, to be the first to file a reorganization plan. Creditors have to wait at least that long before filing their own plan with the court.

* Tribune creditors seek probe of Zell buyout

Tribune Co. creditors are turning up the heat on Sam Zell by threatening an investigation of the leveraged buyout he used to take over the company.

The creditors asked the federal bankruptcy court for authority to hire an outside law firm to probe Zell’s $8.2 billion deal. Zell took on debt to fund the takeover of what had been a publicly traded company, but the worst market for advertising since the recession forced the media conglomerate into bankruptcy last December.

* A peace treaty on O’Hare expansion

* Chicago reduces services to save cash

But there won’t be regular garbage-pickup service Monday and there won’t be any street sweeping.

Most city offices are closed. That includes public libraries and City Hall.

As part of the 2009 budget, three reduced-service days were planned for 2009. The City Council recently approved moving one of the days from New Year’s Eve to Aug. 17.

Officials say the reduced-service days should save more than $8 million.

* Daley shifts oversight for set-aside contracts program

* Alderman confronted over Uptown crime

Uptown neighborhood residents concerned with violence confronted Ald. Helen Shiller Monday outside of an Olympics 2016 bid meeting at Truman College.

Shiller (46th) avoided the crowd, which had complained she’s ignored their concerns. Shiller told news reporters she was on vacation when video surfaced about what appeared to be a street gang fight at Sheridan and Leland last week. Three men also were shot Sunday morning in the 1200 block of West Leland.

* Chicago Heights extends tax break for theater

* TIF district to Matteson Auto Mall

* Geneva raises tax on all phones

* Wind farm talks draw standing-room crowd

* Getting Around: Funds filling potholes and resurfacing roads

About 90 individual resurfacing projects worth more than $194 million are under way this summer on major arterial streets in Chicago and across the six-county region under the direction of the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Work is more than 90 percent completed on 18 of those projects, according to IDOT spokeswoman Marisa Kollias.

* Study warns cell phone users of hidden expenses

Insurance, roadside assistance not worth cost, group says

* More going to prepaid plans, which can offer a better value

Nearly one in five Americans (17 percent) say they’ve switched to prepaid cell phone service from a contract-based cell phone service in the previous six months because of concerns about their jobs and the recession, according to the latest research released in March by the New Millennium Research Council, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank focusing on technology and telecommunications.

Fewer than half (48 percent) say the extras on their cell phone “such as Internet connectivity, e-mail and texting” are delivering a “great deal” or “some” value, the research showed. About a third (34 percent) have no such extras on their phones.

* Allstate settles decade-long lawsuit

Insurance giant Allstate did not acknowledge wrongdoing but settled the case, Strasen v. Allstate, in Madison County, Ill. Circuit Court.

The plaintiffs alleged that Allstate used a computerized system to review medical bills that failed to correctly calculate medical expenses from home and auto claims.

Allstate settled the case for an undisclosed amount, to avoid the continued “burden” of legal expenses, it said.

* Uptown residents rally for postman sent packing

* No job, even government one, safe today

* Nurses not immune to sick economy

* Beleaguered U. of C. Medical Center chief stepping down

Drew fire for diverting ER patients, staff cuts

* Hog producers battle H1N1 misinformation

* Balloon ride could give Navy Pier a lift

* Bank gets Rezko mansion for $2.8 million

No other bidders tried for convicted fixer’s Wilmette home

* Jury set for Brown’s Chicken murder trial

posted by Mike Murray
Tuesday, Aug 18, 09 @ 9:09 am

Comments

I’d say those Uptown residents are really riled up…

Comment by The 'Broken Heart' of Rogers Park Tuesday, Aug 18, 09 @ 9:14 am
Gravedancer Zell comes a cropper. He waited to long to break up the company, and now others will be picking at his bones this time.

That ESOP deal stunk to high heaven. The Trib Board approved a plan that risked the employees retirement money so Zell could maximize his personal tax breaks. Zell, with his exotic privatization deal, was the only buyer they really dealt with, for some reason (I hope the feds find out why).

The most Zell could lose on an $8.2 billion takeover was $300 million (don’t worry, he’s got plenty more at home). The most employees could lose was everything, which is looking like what will happen.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Aug 18, 09 @ 9:36 am
Sam Zell, as I remember, was one of the few parties who actually pitched a plan (that was even remotely workable) for the Tribune Company.

In fairness, this whole mess was not done in a vacuum - as I remember, there were any number of different business columnists at the time in various publications and business blogs who forecast that this baby could easily end up on the rocks if even just a few assumptions went bad.
I’d say this was more of a case where the concept of “accentuate the positive” in regards to the Tribune ESOP became almost a cult mantra, because most of the other players didn’t see any better deal out there.

Not surprisingly, things didn’t go as planned. But at the time the deal was cut, everybody out there was very painfully aware that the Tribune Company’s $8 bil dollar acquisition of the LA Times had been 100% wasted, because at that point in time, $8 bil was the approximate 100% market value for all of The Tribune Company.

When you blow one up like that LA Times deal, well, there’s not a whole lot of trust in the next “deal” to come along, particularly when it’s being pushed by the same cast of characters. Can’t blame Sam Zell for that one - but it certainly opened up the door for Sam.

IMO, Sam Zell’s going to get most of the beating for the failure, but there’s other players out there who deserve it far more than he does.

Comment by Judgment Day Is On The Way Tuesday, Aug 18, 09 @ 10:18 am
A few points about the Zell/Tribune fiasco.

First, there was no requirement that the company be sold. The Chandlers, who had the foresight to sell the Los Angeles Times, pushed hard on the company to buy them out. But the company could have said no. They were a large shareholder, but not a majority shareholder. The big winner here is the Chandlers. I hope there is a move by the bankruptcy creditors against them in all this.

Second, Ron Burkle and Eli Broad made a bid against Zell for the company. Their bid was reported to be worth the same amount, $34 a share, as Zell’s. Reports indicate that the Burkel/ Broad bid was not “considered” by the Board of Directors of Tribune Co. Which leaves me wondering if the executives who were associated with that decision can also be raked by the creditors for taking home millions.

The deal was setup so that Zell would risk only $300 million as a creditor of the company. And, in addition, would have complete control of the assets of the true shareholders, the ESOP. The whole thing will be in litigation for a long time as his fiduciary responsibility to the ESOP is explored.

It may not look good now, it may well turn into a much worse situation for all the geniuses who planned and executed this thing.

Comment by Lou Grant Tuesday, Aug 18, 09 @ 12:12 pm
The more I watch helen shiller’s reaction to her constituents aka her supposed political enemies, the more out of touch she looks. Clearly the people of her Ward are not being well served by her.

Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Aug 18, 09 @ 12:33 pm
In writing about Zell in my blog, I was unable to substantiate the remembrance that the Broad/Burkle bid was “not seriously considered.” Please don’t use that unless you can substantiate yourself.

Sorry and thanks.

Comment by Lou Grant Tuesday, Aug 18, 09 @ 1:01 pm
WOW! The Tribune has hired an editorial cartoonist. That will replace Jeff MacNelly, who died in 2000. It’s Scott Stanis, who draws for the Birmingham (Alabama) News, according to the blog and the Trib.

Here are the sites to look at his cartoons: http://bit.ly/fVTi4 and http://bit.ly/wmitn

Comment by Lou Grant Tuesday, Aug 18, 09 @ 1:25 pm
Originally posted by Lou Grant:
“In writing about Zell in my blog, I was unable to substantiate the remembrance that the Broad/Burkle bid was “not seriously considered.” Please don’t use that unless you can substantiate yourself.”

The Broad/Burkle ‘bid’ looked to be more of a recapitalization (very heavy borrowing was proposed), whereas the Chandler clan wanted a sale more in the lines of what Sam Zell ended up doing. Course, the end result (likely either way) was that the Tribune Company ended up drowning in debt. The fact that the Broad/Burkle ‘bid’ was not accepted might actually turn out to be the best deal that they ever (never) made.

Assume that we’ll all get to relive that period of time now and all the dealmaking that was part of it, only now it will be in lawsuits.

Fun times to come.

Comment by Judgment Day Is On The Way Tuesday, Aug 18, 09 @ 1:41 pm
Judgement Day wrote: “The fact that the Broad/Burkle ‘bid’ was not accepted might actually turn out to be the best deal that they ever (never) made.”

Yep. I guess Broad and Burkle are feeling pretty good right now. You’re right.

Judgement Day wrote: “Fun times to come.” LOL And, there will be a lot to write about too.

Comment by Lou Grant Tuesday, Aug 18, 09 @ 2:20 pm
Regarding “there won’t be regular garbage-pickup service Monday….”

Isn’t that a public health issue? I would think garbage pick-up should NOT be skipped.

Comment by Cheswick Tuesday, Aug 18, 09 @ 3:31 pm