With stricter burial regulations expected to increase the county's cost of handling funerals for the indigent through a private cemetery, a Cook County commissioner is pushing a plan for the government to open its own graveyard.
Commissioner John Fritchey says operating a five-acre cemetery on the grounds of the county's former Oak Forest Hospital would save the county $180 million, the Sun-Times reports.
The state inspector general is accusing a former senior Illinois Department of Transportation official of hitting up a state vendor for NASCAR tickets and then lying about it.
Michael Stout, who headed IDOT's Division of Traffic Safety, doled out the Chicagoland Speedway tickets to acquaintances in hopes he'd "look like a 'big shot,'" the Sun-Times reports. He then tried to pass his friends off as state employees by having them wear IDOT t-shirts, the report says.
The Illinois House committee probing bribery allegations involving Rep. Derrick Smith heard from the lawmaker himself today, but likely not in the way they'd hoped.
Smith, who is facing federal bribery charges, appeared before the committee, read a statement maintaining his innocence, and through his lawyer declined to answer questions about the events surrounding his indictment. Read more...
Mark Brown's column today takes an interesting look at some of the machinations behind the upcoming remap of Cook County's commission districts.
As always, the focus is on race, with commissioners in two majority black districts centered in Chicago's West Side jockeying to redraw them so that changing demographics don't dilute the black vote.
As Chicago City Council yesterday passed Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan simplifying the city's business licenses, Emanuel said he expects to compensate for a drop in revenue by upping fines for some businesses.
The legislation approved by aldermen trims the number of business license categories from 117 to 49, and will likely result in a $2 million drop in licensing revenue, the Sun-Times says.
The Illinois House yesterday approved Gov. Pat Quinn's plan requiring state government retirees to pay health insurance premiums.
The measure wold give the governor the authority to determine how much retirees pay for their health insurance, and establish a sliding scale based on a retiree's financial situation, the Herald & Review reports. Read more...
The CTA is replacing 100 new accordion-style buses to replace older, shorter buses on heavily traveled routes.
The Chicago Transit Authority board yesterday voted to spend $80.1 million on the buses, which will be purchased from New Flyer Industries, the Sun-Times says.
It looks like rumors that the Sun-Times is purchasing the Chicago Reader may be true, with Crain's reporting the two sites have arrived at a $3 million price tag.
While most of the folks quoted by Crain's seem to think it's a good idea, the logic of this merger isn't immediately apparent to me. Read more...
It was with great amusement that I read a piece in today's New York Times on an FBI investigation of police corruption in Baltimore.
"What the investigation revealed was startling: a bribery racket suspected to involve kickbacks to dozens of Baltimore police officers," the article says. " The sheer number of officers involved stunned department veterans and civilians alike." Read more...
Just in case you were uncertain as to whether College Illinois is really messed up, the state Auditor General today released a report detailing a litany of troubles at the prepaid tuition program.
While the problems highlighted by the auditor predate Gov. Pat Quinn's decision to revamp the membership of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, which oversees College Illinois, the list is impressive nonetheless. Read more...
A federal appeals court yesterday banned prosecutors from enforcing a state law against recording police officers in public, ruling that it probably violates the First Amendment.
The law doesn't prohibit silent video recording, but allows for prison sentences of as long as 15 years if an audio recording of a police officer is made without his knowledge. Read more...
The City of Chicago has revoked the permit for a Daley Plaza demonstration by National Nurses United, citing the group's plan to feature a performance by guitarist Tom Morello.
The demonstration, preceded by a march, was scheduled for the weekend of the NATO summit and had been approved by the city months ago, the Trib says. Read more...
Gov. Pat Quinn is brushing aside interest in a gambling expansion in Illinois, saying he needs to stay focused on his plans to shore up the state's financially teetering pension plans and Medicaid system.
“We have very, very high priorities in restructuring Medicaid and reforming our pension system and getting a good budget. So, we don't want to get distracted here,” Quinn says, according to the Trib.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel today unveiled a wide-ranging series of proposals to fix the city's retirement system, among them several that are already being blasted by labor representatives.
Speaking in Springfield before the state House Personnel and Pension Committee, Emanuel said he's seeking to up the retirement age to 67 for city employees and called for a 10-year suspension in cost-of-living increases to city pensions. Read more...
While Mayor Rahm Emanuel is pushing a plan to make Wrigley Field more like Fenway Park, Alderman Tom Tunney has been to a ballgame in Boston and wasn't impressed.
"I was underwhelmed,” he tells the Sun-Times. “Its location is certainly not in the middle of a successful LakeView community. Our neighborhood is much more residential in character. Boston is a great city. It’s just that, what we have here is a lot more potential." Read more...
