Calling an Arizona law aimed at finding illegal immigrants un-American, Cook County commissioners today approved a resolution boycotting the state and giving the board power to end any contracts with vendors located in the state.
But in a quick turn of events, commissioners then approved a contract with a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company that will supply red-light cameras in the Cook suburbs.
Commissioners Edwin Reyes and Joseph Mario Moreno, the board's lone Latinos, led the charge to boycott Arizona businesses. Read more...
The Cook County Health and Hospitals System's board tomorrow will debate a resolution in support of making the system permanently independent of county government.
The 2008 ordinance establishing the independent board calls for the health system to revert back to Cook County Board oversight in 2011.
Making the health board permanent was a campaign point for candidates vying for the County Board presidency. Both Democrat Toni Preckwinkle and Republican Roger Keats support making it permanent; Green Party candidate Tom Tresser says he would like the board embrace more diversity and community input. Read more...
Calling a new Arizona law that targets illegal immigrants – or anyone who could be an illegal immigrant – Cook County Commissioners are set to discuss
an ordinance that would cancel all contracts with Arizona-based companies.
The ordinance, introduced by Commissioners Joseph Mario Moreno and Edwin Reyes, was referred to the finance committee.
Commissioners said the Arizona law was reminiscent of World War II Germany in targeting certain groups of people.
Read more...
On Friday, as leaders of the Cook County Health and Hospitals System approved a three-year $6.4 million contract for laundry and linen services, small businesses renewed claims that they're being pushed away. And this time county commissioners are joining them in complaining about the health system's use of a group purchasing organization.
The contract, with Cincinnati-based Standard Textile Co., Inc., is expected to save the health system 38 percent of its current contract with Lorain, Ohio-based Angelica Corporation. And health system leaders say a rebate program will net an additional $2 million.
But a growing clamor from county commissioners and small business owners illustrates that not everyone is comfortable with the health system’s use of a centralized group purchasing program, which health system leaders expect to save up to $20 million a year. So far, however, the health system has been unable to prove those savings.
Read more...
When Kevin Long showed up at the Daley Center last month, the results could have been disasterous.
Officials caught Long, 48, with four large, steel hunting knives, leading investigators to uncover a cache of 1,600 knives at his home. Long, on parole for harassing a witness, was charged with 51 counts of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.
Many of the knives were made of a hardened polymer that would render metal detectors, such as those at the Daley Center and airports, ineffective. Read more...
