Chicago Current News Feed

CTA seeks financial advice on public-private partnerships for transit projects

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:49:09 -0600

Yesterday, the Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) board approved a four-year agreement to obtain financial advice on the pursuit of public-private partnerships (PPPs) to fund transit projects. With more than $5 billion in capital needs for the Red Line, ...

Record number of Illinois students take Advance Placement exams

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:48:46 -0600

The increase was especially notable among Latino students, as the number of Latinos taking AP classes has quadrupled in the past decade, the Illinois State Board of Education says. Overall, nearly 30 percent of high school seniors in the class of 2011 ...

Chicago Teachers Union asks court to take action on proposed school closings

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:48:09 -0600

The Chicago Teachers Union is asking a Cook County court to intervene before the Chicago Board of Education votes on 17 proposed school closures and "turnarounds" later this month. The union filed a lawsuit Thursday morning, seeking to block the ...

City offers $6.2 million to settle arrests at 2003 war protest

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:47:52 -0600

Lawyers for the city of Chicago told a federal judge today they have reached a $6.2 million settlement with more than 800 plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit stemming from the mass arrests of protesters during a 2003 demonstration against the Iraq war ...

County board to debate controversial immigration policy

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:35:00 -0600

Cook County commissioners will be on the hot seat Thursday as they face critics and supporters of a controversial policy directing the county sheriff to ignore requests from the feds to hold suspected illegal immigrants in jail longer.

Mayor Emanuel: Time To Speed Up Trains To O’Hare, Midway

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:35:00 -0600

Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Wednesday he’s evaluating plans to shave up to 12 minutes off CTA travel times between downtown and O’Hare Airport and Midway Airports, a goal he views as more attainable than his predecessor’s dream of an express train to O’Hare.

Related:

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Wants to Speed Up CTA Trains Between Loop, O'Hare ... [MyFox Chicago]
Mayor Emanuel: Time to speed up trains to O'Hare, Midway [Chicago Sun-Times]

Chicago Teachers Union accuses CPS of discriminating against African-American ...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:34:00 -0600

The Chicago Teachers Union filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Wednesday alleging that layoffs last summer targeted tenured African-American teachers who represent a third of the CPS teachers.

Related:

CTU: Board Of Ed. Discriminates Against Black Teachers [Progress Illinois]

$57.4 million facelift program OK'd for 7 North Side stops on CTA's Red Line

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:33:00 -0600

Seven of the most shabby, leaky and all-around deplorable rail stations on the CTA Red Line's north branch will be part of a $57.4 million facelift project starting this summer and running through early next year, under a contract the CTA board approved Wednesday.

Some University Employees Double Dipping For State Paychecks

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:31:00 -0600

Some public university employees have figured out a way to keep their jobs and double their salaries. CBS 2 found employees at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the City Colleges of Chicago, and Chicago State University who also retired and returned to draw both a university pension and a university salary.

Progress seen at city's turnaround schools

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:00:00 -0600

A study of Chicago's most aggressive efforts to reform failing schools, including replacing school leadership and staff in "turnaround" efforts, finds that targeted schools did improve even though students continued to score below district standards.

Related:

Study: CPS has some success turning around grammar schools, not high schools [Sun-Times]
School Reform Efforts Show Mixed Results in Study [Chicago News Coop]

Chicago Tribune eyes price tag for online news

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:00:00 -0600

The Chicago Tribune will begin charging online readers for access to content and is considering a "creative way" to do that, said Gerould Kern, the paper's editor.

Cultural venues may host summit events

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:00:00 -0600

Some of the city's leading cultural institutions are being considered as potential venues for private events when the G-8 and NATO summits bring dozens of world leaders to Chicago in May, officials said this week.

Midway Airport neighbors upset over planned razing of 1927 building

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:58:00 -0600

Neighbors have started a campaign to save a 1927 building near Midway Airport in the wake of a Chicago City Council voted last fall to acquire it and three other properties. City aviation officials say the buildings are expected to be torn down and converted into green space after the Federal Aviation Administration designated them unsafe due to their nearness to Midway Airport.

Koschman attorneys want transcripts of investigator interviews released

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:13:00 -0600

Attorneys for the family of David Koschman on Tuesday asked a judge to release transcripts of interviews that investigators recently conducted with Koschman’s friends and other witnesses. Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez included portions of those interviews in her objection to Nanci Koschman’s request that a special prosecutor re-examine what happened to her son, who died in 2004 following a drunken confrontation with a group that included Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko, a nephew of then-Mayor Richard M. Daley.

Bumpy ride ahead for state budget

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:12:00 -0600

Speaker Michael Madigan on Tuesday outlined grim budget news to House Democrats who left a closed-door meeting predicting deep budget cuts, particularly in health care for the poor.

Related:

Quinn wants schools, Medicaid providers to help balance state's budget [Crain's Chicago Business (blog)]
Quinn Wants To Cut $2 Billion From Medicaid Budget [CBS Chicago]
Quinn: Cut $2B from Medicaid Budget [Fox Chicago]