Smart meter foes fight installation; call for oversight
02/22/2012
Opponents of smart meters being installed in Naperville are not giving up the fight against the program. About 57,000 meters are being installed around the city as part of the Smart Grid Initiative, which the city says will be an upgrade to the current electrical system. Some members of Naperville Smart Meter Awareness, which has raised objections to the meters because of health and privacy issues, spoke to the City Council Tuesday night. "Smart meters pose risks in the areas of privacy, costs, security and health and are not federally mandated," Naperville resident Tom Glass said. Naperville resident Jerry Schilling …
District 11 Congressional forum planned in Naperville
02/22/2012
This is a unique political year in Naperville, as redistricting has changed the Congressional map for the city. Based on the 2010 census figures, Naperville residents are now divided among three U.S. Congressional Districts: the 6th, the 11th, and the 14th. Much of Naperville is in the 11th District. Because of that, the League of Women Voters of Naperville, together with the North Central College Student Government Association, will sponsor a District 11 Democratic Primary Candidates Forum at 7 p.m. Friday at Meiley-Swallow Hall on the North Central campus. All three contenders for the Democratic nomination have agreed to be …
Catholic Charities closing offices for four days
02/22/2012
Claiming a lack of funding has left it "financially paralyzed," Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Joliet plans to close its offices for four days to help close budget gaps. Naperville is in the Diocese of Joliet. Offices in Joliet, Lombard, Morris, Kankakee and Bourbonnais were closed Friday and also will close March 5, April 9 and May 25. Staff is taking a mandated unpaid furlough those days, according to a news release. This is the second year in a row that Catholic Charities has instituted furlough days, said Lorri Nagle, director of development. "It's very, very hard for us …
Reports put DuPage panels under microscope
02/22/2012
The fledgling overhaul of DuPage County's non-elected advisory boards and commissions picked up steam Tuesday, when officials heard their first set of recommendations for specific ways some of the appointed groups that steward public funds can do better. Consultants from Crowe Horwath LLP said four of the first five boards spotlighted could work harder on transparency and regular communication with the top brass. Bob Dobis, managing partner of the government group for Crowe Horwath's Oak Brook office, said the recommendations were compiled with an eye toward the county maximizing transparency and accountability among its 53 appointed bodies. Nearly half of …
Report: Quinn budget plan calls for closing more state facilities
02/22/2012
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Gov. Pat Quinn plans to call for closing 14 state facilities, including eight run by the Corrections Department, when he presents his proposal for a new Illinois budget that would slash spending throughout state government, a person familiar with the plan told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The eight Corrections Department facilities targeted for closure are not all prisons, said the person, who has seen the governor's budget plan but is not authorized to discuss it publicly. The person would speak only on condition of anonymity. Aside from prisons, the only facilities on the Corrections Department website …
4.0 earthquake in Missouri shakes 9 states
02/22/2012
Only minor damage is reported after an earthquake centered in southeast Missouri shook at least nine states. The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude 4.0 earthquake was centered near the town of East Prairie, Mo. Geological Survey geophysicist Amy Vaughan says several people in Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee reported being awakened by the quake that happened at 3:58 a.m. A few residents of North Carolina, Alabama, Indiana and Georgia also felt it. East Prairie City Administrator Lonnie Thurmond says the shaking lasted about seven seconds. Vaughan says he's heard reports of cracks in sidewalks and walls, some broken …
State Board approves NCLB waiver application
02/22/2012
SPRINGFIELD - The Illinois State Board of Education on Tuesday approved a comprehensive waiver application to the federal No Child Left Behind Act that proposes using multiple measures to evaluate the nearly 4,000 public schools in Illinois.
The goal...
Illinois OK'd contract despite fraud
02/22/2012
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Illinois Department of Human Services officials approved $1.7 million in payments to a transportation business despite the company's conviction for fraudulently billing the state's Medicaid program for $400,000, an...
Illinois lawmakers want transportation bill changes
02/22/2012
CHICAGO (AP) - A bipartisan group of Illinois Congress members proposed changes Tuesday to a U.S. House transportation bill that critics say would deprive the state of hundreds of millions of dollars in highway funds and jeopardize Chicago's transit...
Quinn's budget cuts will face opposition
02/22/2012
SPRINGFIELD -- Gov. Pat Quinn's budget for the year beginning July 1 includes dozens of facility closings and consolidations, a pledge to restructure the state's $14 billion Medicaid program and another look at trying to reduce pension costs.
It will require extraordinary cooperation and agreement from the Legislature. And the early signs are not encouraging for the governor.
read more
Tax rebates for Champaign hotel get unanimous approval
02/22/2012
Officials agree that $3 million incentive worth it to fill in hole left by Metropolitan Building fire in 2008
CHAMPAIGN -- City council members unanimously said Tuesday night that they would be willing to offer up to $3 million in tax rebates to the developer of a proposed nine-story hotel to see the project get off the ground.
read more
House committee passes anti-abortion bills
02/22/2012
SPRINGFIELD -- Two anti-abortion bills sailed through a friendly House committee Tuesday although their fate in the full House is less assured.
read more
Tamms, Dwight prisons on Quinn list for closure
02/22/2012
UPDATED 4:05 p.m. Tuesday
SPRINGFIELD. (AP) -- Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn wants to close two prisons, including a "super max" institution at Tamms.
read more
New Rockford ward map gets held up at City Council
02/22/2012
Some Rockford aldermen want the city's proposed ward boundaries for 2013 through 2023 tweaked to keep neighborhood groups and existing relationships intact. Aldermen met before tonight's City Council meeting to talk about concerns with the proposed map and decided to give themselves another week or two to make what is being billed as minor changes.
Rockford ward boundaries up for vote at City Council tonight
02/22/2012
Rockford aldermen are once again poised to approve a new map of the city. The new map shows how ward boundaries should change to align with population shifts. The vote to approve the map has been delayed a handful of times in recent months as aldermen have reviewed the final product and the changes that would go into effect next year.
Illinois man's wife wants $5M after fatal bear mauling
02/22/2012
POWELL, Wyo. — A federal judge is allowing a lawsuit over a fatal bear mauling near Yellowstone National Park to move forward, rejecting the federal government's immunity claim under state law.
Cherry Valley trustees to vote on repealing phone tax
02/22/2012
Cherry Valley residents could soon see a slight decrease in their phone bills. The village board is expected to vote tonight on a measure that would eliminate a 6 percent telecommunication tax that went into effect Jan. 1, 2010.
Read Julia Hunter's tweets from the meeting.
Senator Dick Durbin backs Senate transportation bill
02/22/2012
CHICAGO — Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin says Republicans in the U.S. House should start over rather than push forward with a troubled bill on long-term funding for transportation.
Police horses in Chicago to get shields for summits
02/22/2012
CHICAGO — Chicago's police horses are getting their own "riot gear" in preparation for the upcoming NATO and G-8 summits.
County prepares for cameras in courts
02/22/2012
EDWARDSVILLE - Cameras in the criminal courts will be controlled carefully, which may assuage the concerns of some people that the new policy may subvert a fair trial.
"It will all be done in a very coordinated way. It will rule-driven," Chief 3rd...
Cherry Valley residents to get phone-bill break after tax repealed
02/22/2012
CHERRY VALLEY — Cherry Valley residents will see a slight decrease in their phone bills in the coming months.
2014 targeted to start Rockton's Illinois 75 project
02/22/2012
ROCKTON — The Illinois Department of Transportation has set 2014 as a goal to start construction on road improvements to Illinois 75 in Rockton from the Rock River Bridge to Union Street. The project would add traffic signals to the Union Street intersection, near the village’s downtown park and pool. It also would add a welcome sidewalk.
South Beloit: Billing company never upped ambulance fee
02/22/2012
SOUTH BELOIT — More than a year ago, South Beloit City Council members raised rates for ambulance rides to cut into a citywide budget deficit.
Park Ridge finally settles contract with firefighters
02/22/2012
After months of negotiations, approval, veto, veto override and subsequent grievances, Park Ridge's contract with its firefighters is finally in the clear.
Malcolm X College to get new campus
02/22/2012
$251 million facility will focus on preparing students for health care jobsMalcolm X College will get a new $251 million campus as part of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's push to turn the community college into a pipeline for the health care jobs that he said will be a major growth area in Chicago.
Wheaton zoo moves to shield its small ducks from hungry hawk
02/22/2012
The Cooper's hawk looking for a meal at Wheaton's Cosley Zoo won't find small ducks on the menu these days.
Rockford City Council delays vote on redrawn ward map
02/22/2012
ROCKFORD — Some Rockford aldermen want the city’s proposed ward boundaries for 2013 through 2023 tweaked to keep neighborhood groups and existing relationships intact.
State's attorney: Releasing Koschman transcripts would 'undermine' case
02/22/2012
Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez is fighting an effort by the family of David Koschman to make public transcripts of witness interviews related to Koschman's homicide case. "The wholesale disclosure of the information that the petitioners request would disrupt the ongoing criminal investigation and further undermine an already dim prospect of any future criminal prosecution" of Richard J. Vanecko, a nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, Alvarez said Tuesday in an 11-page filing. Lawyers for Koschman's family want to review the interviews -- conducted by Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson's office -- before they respond to Alvarez's attempt …
Emanuel: New Malcolm X College will put City Colleges 'back on the playing field'
02/22/2012
Chicago will build a new, $251 million Malcolm X College and parking garage on the parking lot of the existing building, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Tuesday.
School protesters take complaints to Mayor Emanuel's neighborhood
02/22/2012
Protesters fed up with this year's school closing proposals are rallying at Mayor Emanuel's neighborhood school and holding a candlelight vigil outside the mayor's house Monday.
Emanuel gives coal plant operator an ultimatum to clean up
02/22/2012
After months of negotiations, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is giving the owner of Chicago's two coal-fired power plants until next week to figure out how to clean up some of the city's biggest sources of lung-damaging pollution.
Vegas Mob Museum puts best face on connections to Chicago, politicians
02/22/2012
LAS VEGAS — The newly opened Mob Museum was stunning, but what stunned me the most was what was missing.
Mayor's home turf is fair game for protesters
02/22/2012
Demonstration outside Emanuel house was unusual, yet respected privacy boundaryMy pal Eric asked me Tuesday what I thought about the people who rallied outside Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home Monday evening to protest the proposal to close seven Chicago public schools and radically overhaul 10 more.
Quinn to unveil bad-news budget
02/22/2012
$33.9 billion to spend, but costs rising; most agencies to be hit with 9% cutsSPRINGFIELD — Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn will deliver a bad-news budget Wednesday, suggesting that Illinois close numerous prisons, mental health centers and social service offices, cut health care for the poor and shut down popular tourist sites for two days a week at times during the year.
Illinois lawmakers oppose transportation bill
02/22/2012
Members of Illinois' congressional delegation are promoting
changes to a U.S. House transportation bill they say would deprive
the state of millions in highway funds and jeopardize Chicago's
transit s
Ill. among 9 states shaken by 4.0 quake
02/22/2012
ST. LOUIS -- Just days after the 200th anniversary of a series of
massive earthquakes in southeast Missouri, residents woke up
Tuesday to a rumbling reminder that they live in one of the
continent's mo
Chicago police horses to get shields for summits
02/22/2012
Chicago's police horses are getting their own "riot gear" in
preparation for the upcoming NATO and G-8 summits.
State House OKs property tax cap for suburban homeowners
02/22/2012
In a potential election-year gift to homeowners and businesses, the Illinois House Tuesday voted to block suburban governments from increasing property taxes when overall property values decline.
ADM says job-cuts plan now will eliminate 1,200
02/22/2012
Archer Daniels Midland Co. said Tuesday that it is firing 175
people at its headquarters in Illinois as part of a plan to cut
what it now says will be 1,200 mostly salaried jobs across the
company.
ADM says job-cuts plan now will eliminate 1,200
02/22/2012
CHAMPAIGN -- Archer Daniels Midland Co. said Tuesday that it is
firing 175 people at its headquarters in Illinois as part of a plan
to cut what it now says will be 1,200 mostly salaried jobs across
th
Authorities: Debt-collector scam bilked millions
02/22/2012
CHICAGO -- A phone scam in which callers in India posed as debt
collectors bilked millions of dollars out of more than 10,000 U.S.
residents by using threats of arrest or the loss of their jobs,
U.S.
Dwight among prisons targeted for closure by Quinn
02/22/2012
SPRINGFIELD -- Gov. Pat Quinn will lay out a potentially painful
budget scenario Wednesday that includes the closure of 14 state
facilities and a reshaping of how many state agencies operate in
downst
ADM says job-cuts plan now will eliminate 1,200
02/22/2012
Archer Daniels Midland Co. now says its restructuring plan will
eliminate 1,200 jobs around the agribusiness company.
Ill. Sen. Durbin backs Senate transportation bill
02/22/2012
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin says Republicans in the U.S. House
should start over rather than push forward with a troubled bill on
long-term funding for transportation.
Aldermen: Close Chicago coal-fired power plants
02/22/2012
Some Chicago aldermen and others are pushing for the closure of
the city's two coal-fired power plants.
Fungus killing certain southern Ill. rattlesnake
02/22/2012
Wildlife researchers say a fungus rarely seen in the wild is
killing southern Illinois rattlesnakes that already are in
decline.
Quinn to propose closing prisons in grim IL budget
02/22/2012
Facing yet another year of ugly budget news, Gov. Pat Quinn
plans to propose shuttering 14 major state facilities, including
two prisons, cutting costs in most agencies and slashing spending
on govern
Quinn: Tamms, Dwight prisons should close
02/22/2012
As part of a cost-reduction plan, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn wants
to close a prison that opened just 14 years ago as a cutting-edge
facility for the state's most dangerous inmates.
Quinn won't propose fixes for pensions, Medicaid
02/22/2012
Gov. Pat Quinn's budget speech won't include specific plans for
fixing two of Illinois' biggest financial problems.
GOP leaders blast Illinois gov's proposed budget
02/22/2012
Illinois Republicans are criticizing parts of Gov. Pat Quinn's
proposed budget along with some of the ideas he's likely to
detail.
GOP lawmakers rail on pension shift
02/22/2012
SPRINGFIELD -- Republican lawmakers Tuesday called on Gov. Pat
Quinn and Democratic leaders to put the brakes on a plan that could
shift state pension costs to local school districts and
universities.
Illinois drops price for some football tickets
02/22/2012
After seeing attendance drop Illinois has lowered the cost of
some football tickets for 2012.
Inspector general: Ill. OK'd contract after fraud
02/22/2012
A transportation business received $1.7 million worth of state
work over two years even after a federal conviction for hundreds of
thousands of dollars in state Medicaid fraud, according to an
investi
IL House panel approves 2 anti-abortion measures
02/22/2012
An Illinois House committee has approved tougher regulations for
centers that perform abortions and a requirement that women view an
ultrasound or refuse in writing before getting an abortion.
Belleville Veterans' service office will return
02/22/2012
The Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs plans to reopen its Belleville Veterans' Service Office in March with part-time hours.
More public payrolls online: Find out what your elected officials are earning
02/22/2012
Wondering what your elected officials -- and your student's teacher, for that matter -- made in 2011? You'll find out here.
Illinois readies plan on school accountability
02/22/2012
Illinois has a plan to change the way it evaluates the progress
of schools and students. The state is submitting it to the U.S.
Department of Education.
Wheaton woman working to let wrongfully convicted "hero" rest in peace
02/22/2012
Heidi Quitter won't be able to live with herself if she doesn't give a proper burial to the man who lost his own life saving hers. Longtime boyfriend Lionel Lane was shot and killed Jan. 5 on Chicago's West Side as he protected her from a gunman who forced her into a gangway. Now she's trying to find the money to bury him. "He died a hero and I'm not going to let his death...
Lauzen: Emails suggest Geneva mayor acted improperly
02/22/2012
A part-time political consultant for State Sen. Chris Lauzen raised allegations Tuesday that Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns used his taxpayer-funded email address to run his campaign for Kane County Board chairman. Records show more than 100 pages of emails connected to that account, involving exchanges between Burns and various supporters and campaign employees.
Cargo airline plans to link MidAmerica with China; St. Clair County committee OKs $550 million in bonds
02/22/2012
Two St. Clair County Board committees Tuesday approved a plan for the county to issue $550 million in general revenue "conduit" bonds to make MidAmerica St. Louis Airport the base for a planned air cargo operation that could include overseas flights.
'This is an absolute nightmare': Quinn to close Murray Center in Centralia; 550 jobs at stake
02/22/2012
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn will announce plans today to close the Warren G. Murray Developmental Center in Centralia.His plan is to close the center by November 2013. The state-run facility employs about 550 people and has about 275 residents who have developmental disabilities.
'A true professional': Former Belleville police chief, sheriff dies
02/22/2012
Former Belleville Police Chief and St. Clair County Sheriff Paul J. Klincar died Saturday and will be buried Thursday in Lake View Memorial Gardens.
Belleville nursing home sued by family of patient who wandered away, then died
02/22/2012
Aubrey Giles' daughters are suing the nursing home where the 77-year-old dementia resident walked away from last month and later died.
O'Fallon OKs upgraded, more costly design for skate park
02/22/2012
O'Fallon aldermen have approved an upgraded, and more costly, design for the city's first skate park.
Swansea declines attorney for police talks
02/22/2012
Trustees did not hire an attorney Tuesday night to represent the village on a police union grievance over compensation for unused sick leave at retirement.
Mascoutah man will lead Civil Air Patrol in Illinois
02/22/2012
The Civil Air Patrol in Illinois has a new wing commander.
Students talk their way into state championships
02/22/2012
Students from Belleville West and Granite City high schools won state championships Saturday at the Illinois High School Association Speech Tournament in Peoria.
A quick tour: Business ventures that have failed to take off at MidAmerica
02/22/2012
Since March 1998, when MidAmerica St. Louis Airport officially opened for businesses, many development deals have been signed there, but lasting success has been rare.
In 5 years, 82 of 83 suburbs' property tax take rose
02/22/2012
At a time when property values have gone down considerably, many suburbs have sharply increased how much they're receiving in property taxes. More than two dozen towns throughout the suburbs have raised property taxes by more than 20 percent since 2006, according to an analysis of five years' worth of property tax records.