http://chicagobusiness.com/mag Crain's Chicago Business for the week of 2009-11-16 This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/Gnn-JK2RQgI/article.pl Crain's today publishes its annual list of the Chicago area's 25 largest hospitals. Northwestern Memorial Hospital tops the list for the eighth straight year, with $1.1 billion in net patient revenue for fiscal 2008. The University of Chicago Medical Center, Rush University Medical Center, ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32689 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/ZSWRoQIJKzU/article.pl While battling foreclosure at Block 37, developer Freed & Associates is trying to avoid another black eye as it revamps the landmark Carson Pirie Scott building just down State Street. Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32659 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/tyyyujMz6BQ/article.pl William Mason debuted at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as a boy alto playing the young shepherd in Puccini's "Tosca." Now a tenor, Mr. Mason is singing some low notes as the Lyric's general director. With subscriptions off by 13% and the value of the Lyric's endowment down 19%, Mr. Mason is in the ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32660 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/mxjnlwHSaE4/article.pl Chicago investment heavyweights including John Rogers Jr., who bet big on the ambitious growth strategy at PrivateBancorp Inc., are fuming at the Chicago lender's investment bank, J. P. Morgan Chase & Co., for its handling of a recent sale of new shares that renders their original investment a ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32661 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/yplbpCZAG6E/article.pl Question: What do a rich teeny-bopper and Gov. Pat Quinn have in common? Answer: Both need daddy to take away their credit cards before the family goes bankrupt. There really isn't anything else one reasonably can say after last week's episode in which Mr. Quinn — with a typical mix of good ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32662 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/_gaZVFeMSSI/article.pl If MillerCoors wants to win the beer war with Anheuser-Busch InBev, it will have to win over Sam Odeh first. Mr. Odeh, whose company owns three Power Marts in the area, says Chicago-based MillerCoors LLC has done a lousy job of stocking his shelves, promoting its brew and keeping its signs up to ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32663 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/YYd4q0AJ24Q/article.pl Peter Schwarzbach's name was misspelled in an Oct. 26 story. [corrected in online edition] ©2009 by Crain Communications Inc. Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32679 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/wzh4_5NmAO8/article.pl As Mayor Richard M. Daley considers auctioning off Chicago's water system in a deal that could fetch upward of $1 billion, water privatizations in other cities are awash in controversy. Atlanta scrapped a 20-year deal to outsource management to a private firm after it produced rising costs and ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32664 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/1X2SM_EzbxU/article.pl Estelle Walgreen, who made Chicago headlines as a beauty queen and as the owner of pet pigs that raised a stink in Lake Forest, wants to go from making the news to publishing it. This week Ms. Walgreen, 47, is launching Hispanically Speaking News, a Web site aimed at Chicago's Latino community. ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32665 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/6AUtGwd6HQM/article.pl Sanjay Jha's all-or-nothing bet on Google is starting to pay off, but a successful turnaround of Motorola Inc.'s phone business will take much more. The Droid smartphone, launched Nov. 6, is doing well at Verizon Wireless stores and is on track to top 1 million shipments by yearend, analysts ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32666 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/1yJx0E7DAGo/article.pl Don't expect any gossipy headlines about Tom Ricketts not paying taxes for his nannies. The new owner of the Chicago Cubs spoke from experience last week when he praised the efforts of Ladders Up, an organization whose 1,800 volunteers help prepare tax returns for low-income workers. The ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32667 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/8Vvu853Vngk/article.pl SPOTLIGHT: LOIS VITT SALE Job: Senior vice-president, chief sustainability officer, Darien-based architectural firm Wight & Co., since October. Vitals: 50 years old; bachelor's degree in French, Indiana University, 1980; master's degree in architecture, Catholic University of America, 1988; ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32669 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/S6mn7Z-AIa0/article.pl A proposed federal sales tax on medical devices could cost Abbott Laboratories, Baxter International Inc. and Hospira Inc. a combined $100 million a year or more. To help pay for health care reform, Congress is considering an excise tax on the medical-device industry, first proposed at roughly ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32668 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/7Crk6jYF28w/article.pl With suits an increasingly uncommon sight in corporate cubicles, the menswear industry has been in a downward spiral for the past few years. But that hasn't stopped retailers that think they see opportunities. Suit House Inc. plans to open its first store, adjacent to its Naperville headquarters, ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32670 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/F4F6fRxFIdU/article.pl Downtown condominium developers limped through yet another quarter, but they have at least one reason to be thankful: The great condo building boom is coming to an end. For the past three years, downtown developers have built more condos than they have sold, the result of overexuberance and an ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32671 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/9jFjmqhEwkg/article.pl After months of negotiations with its lender, the developer of the Elysian Hotel & Private Residences has scrapped a plan to sell the project's 188 hotel suites as condominiums, removing a cloud of uncertainty over the $280-million Gold Coast high-rise. The decision to drop the condo-hotel ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32672 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/IjPvwkVBqio/article.pl Chicago bankruptcy cases are surging, and experts say there are more on tap. This year, 259 businesses have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Northern District of Illinois, up more than fourfold from last year, and triple the rate of increase nationally. Most are small businesses, ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32673 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/_N-__lzKm0o/article.pl This week's editorial cartoon by Roger Schillerstrom Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32676 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/sxb-d-Pp7AU/article.pl Gov. Quinn fighting for responsible state budget Crain's Our View (Nov. 9) may have left some readers confused about Gov. Pat Quinn's record of responsible fiscal leadership. Mr. Quinn's budget proposal addressed the state's "harrowing budget deficit" by cutting more than $1 billion in spending ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32677 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/628ClcQFpkA/article.pl A recent item in Greg Hinz's blog illustrates the complicity of the business community in Illinois' dysfunctional government. A group of Chicago business leaders is holding a "special luncheon" for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan on Nov. 24, according to Mr. Hinz's post on ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32674 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/dDc5Z7kSnOs/article.pl Across the Chicago area, local government officials are hearing increasingly from employers that maintaining homes affordable to their workers isn't a maybe — it's a must. One might be surprised to learn that, since 2005, leaders in Lake Forest, which ranks among Illinois' wealthiest ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32675 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/WZKIQl1K5kQ/article.pl Here's what ChicagoBusiness.com readers said about Greg Hinz's blog item "Deal reportedly reached to avoid CTA fare hike" (Nov. 10). Raise fares, cut routes and explain that there are no other options as long as the current system stands. As long as the CTA keeps being "saved," nothing will ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32678 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/WLxmgTjnj7I/article.pl With many staffs operating at bare-bones levels, companies can't afford to brush off a flu threat that could leave their remaining workforce incapacitated. Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32685 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/7Y5jjPS8vA4/article.pl If there's any doubt about the importance of a plan to handle widespread absenteeism this flu season, Mark Dworkin wants to put it to rest. "I think this is going to be an extremely difficult influenza season. In fact, it already is," says Dr. Dworkin, associate professor of epidemiology and ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32686 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/rraSUCUh3E8/article.pl Mike Claver remembers well the two bouts he's fought with influenza. As a 6-year-old swept up in the pandemic of 1957, he was so sick the family doctor told his mother to "consider making plans." He recovered. But several years later, his parents contracted Hong Kong flu, leaving them extremely ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32687 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/OYfAI93NExA/article.pl With the H1N1 pandemic weighing on everybody's mind, employee advocacy groups are renewing their push for federal and state legislation making paid sick days mandatory, hoping that flu fears will speed the measures forward. On the federal level, the National Partnership for Women and Families, a ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32688 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/U497WjCRRA4/article.pl At client meetings or conferences, speakers are the public face of the company. But what if they can't maintain a good game face? Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32680 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/XPUbgcm5CFc/article.pl Wine servers are doing double duty as tea sommeliers as some guests forgo Port at meal-end for loose-leaf darjeelings. Teas with the nuanced flavors of wine and fine spirits are reaching new price points: At Spiaggia, the 1949 vintage pu-erh tea goes for $195 per single-serve pot; a half-dozen ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32681 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/szh32wY-vN8/article.pl After eating falafel every day (and usually twice a day) for a week, I can share a couple of relevant observations about this little chickpea fritter. For one, the city's downtown lunch crowd is all about it. Every fast-casual counter place I tried — and there are a bunch now — had a ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32682 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/Di7i4GyVgaw/article.pl Cherilyn Murer, founder, president and CEO of Joliet-based Murer Consultants, represents hospitals and health care systems in the U.S. and abroad. Apart from sending e-mail via BlackBerry, she delegates computer work: "The Internet can be all-consuming." Where she spends time: For news: Chicago ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32684 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrainsChicagoBusinessWeeklyEdition/~3/DIuAMa3IJsw/article.pl Casa Central was founded in 1954 by a group of United Church of Christ, Presbyterian and Methodist churches to provide services to Chicago's Hispanic population. Originally dedicated to emergency needs, it now focuses on issues such as homelessness, unemployment, early childhood education, gang ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=32683