Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday justified cutting Taste of Chicago in half, saying the number of days does not determine the appeal of the lakefront restaurant showcase.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday justified cutting Taste of Chicago in half, saying the number of days does not determine the appeal of the lakefront restaurant showcase.
The Illinois Restaurant Association created Taste of Chicago, but that doesn’t mean the group has a lifetime lock on managing food and beverage operations at Chicago’s premier summer festival. Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration is putting the contract out to bid to see if the city can get a better deal to help stop the financial bleeding at the Taste.
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...
Illinois General Assembly quickly passes pension reforms
State legislators swiftly approved a bill that would raise the retirement age for future government employees and force them to wait longer to collect on their pensions.
The bill, passed last night in the Senate after it sailed throught the House, would not affect anyone who is currently in the retirement system. Read more...
The Cook County Health and Hospitals System aims to save $500,000 a year by buying supplies in bulk rates.
A contract with U.S. Food Service, a group purchaser, cuts the county’s food contracts from 11 to one, says spokesman Lucio Guerrero. The deal, announced this week, is part of broader cost-cutting measures at the health system in recent months.
"This is just one part of the substantial savings we will realize," said William Foley, the health system's chief executive. "We will continue to find ways to make sure that we are wisely using taxpayer money while making sure that patient quality doesn't suffer." Read more...
