Permias Chicago

Bailout Votes 9/29/2008

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 21:05:00 +0000

Here's how members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation voted in the House's rejection of a $700 billion emergency bailout for the nation's financial system:

Democrats: 7 votes in favor of the bailout, 3 votes against.

Melissa Bean: Yes
Jerry Costello: No
Danny Davis: Yes
Rahm Emanuel: Yes
Bill Foster: Yes
Luis Gutierrez: Yes
Phil Hare: Yes
Daniel Lipinski: No
Bobby Rush: No
Jan Schakowsky: Yes.

Republicans: 2 votes in favor of the bailout, 5 votes against; Jerry Weller did not vote.

Judy Biggert: No
Timothy Johnson: No
Mark Kirk: Yes
Ray LaHood: Yes
Donald Manzullo: No
Peter Roskum: No
John Shimkus: No
Jerry Weller: Did not vote.

Bennigan's Restaurants Abruptly Closed Today

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:59:00 +0000

Tribune reporters Jeremy Gorner and Melissa Patterson contributed to this story.

Stroy link here.

Many Bennigan's restaurants in Chicago and across the country abruptly closed Tuesday after the company that owns the chain filed for bankruptcy.

S & A Restaurant Corp and some of its affiliates, which are popularly known as Bennigan's, Steak & Ale and Tavern restaurants, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, said a statement from Plano, Texas-based Metromedia Restaurant Group, which ultimately owns all three restaurant chains.

The statement didn't disclose the number of restaurants that are closing. Sheryl Randolph, a spokeswoman for Metromedia Restaurant Group, said the closure doesn't effect franchisee-owned outlets.

According to Bennigan's Web site, it has 21 locations in Illinois and another three in Northwest Indiana. But it is unclear how many are company-owned and how many are owned by franchisees.

Managers of Bennigan's restaurants across the country were awoken last night by midnight phone calls telling them to shutter their restaurants immediately, according to interviews with several restaurant managers.

Alfonso Prince, the general manager at the Bennigan's in Calumet City, said he received a call from his supervisor about 12:10 a.m. that all the company-owned restaurants were closing nationwide.

"They had been shutting down stores here and there. I never thought all stores," Prince, 33, of Gary, Ind., said in a telephone interview.

Two Bennigans locations along Michigan avenue were locked and empty at 10 a.m. Tuesday morning, though both normally open by 8 a.m. for breakfast. Both restaurants posted signs on plain printer paper near their entrances announcing that they were closed.

Lights were on and a couple of employees could be seen milling around the restaurants at 225 N. Michigan Ave. and 150 S. Michigan, but no one answered knocks at their entrance doors-not even for coworkers. A woman who identified herself as a Bennigan's employee knocked in frustration at one location before giving up and walking away.

Caleb Kosek, 24, showed up for his first day of work as a Bennigan's server to find the 225 North Michigan location locked. He circled the building for a few minutes before passersby informed him that they had heard the restaurant chain was closed as of that morning.

"Wow," he said wide-eyed as he peeked into the empty restaurant.

Gerald and Elizabeth O'Boyle, who were visiting the city from Hamilton, Ontario, passed by the 225 North Michigan restaurant Monday evening to find it packed, they said. They figured its popularity was a good sign, and decided to return Tuesday morning for breakfast.

"This is highly unusual," Gerald O'Boyle said as he stood outside the closed restaurant. "I just can't fathom it."

Chapter 7 bankruptcy implies liquidation, not reorganization of a financially troubled company. That means the shuttered stores are not likely to reopen.

Gang Members Nabbed in Chicago

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:57:00 +0000

By Antonio Olivo | Chicago Tribune reporter

During a four-day sweep, federal Immigration agents have arrested 49 immigrants in the Chicago area, part of an ongoing effort to crack down on foreign-born gang members, officials announced Friday.

Of those arrested, 47 are believed to be members or associates of seven gangs, the federal department of Immigration & Customs Enforcement announced in an e-mailed news release. Most were from Mexico, with one Guatemalan, the statement said. All but one were in the country illegally.

The arrests, which ended Wednesday, were made in Chicago's north and northwest suburbs.

No More Plastic Bags At Grocery Strores

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 21:15:00 +0000

RALEIGH, N.C. - The bag wars have begun.

Disposable plastic bags, which are made of petroleum, are under siege these days. Americans use 100 billion plastic bags a year and only about 1 percent are recycled, according to the Worldwatch Institute, an independent research organization that focuses on environmental issues.

And that, as Earth Day is celebrated Tuesday, is cause for concern.

Some states and cities have considered banning or taxing disposable plastic bags. Several grocery store chains have cut their use.

But are the bags that bad?

The American Chemistry Council, a trade association that represents chemical manufacturers, has opposed bans on plastic bags and said they have their benefits. The council said one truck can carry the same number of plastic bags as it takes seven trucks hauling bulkier paper bags.

And then there is the issue of trees. Plastic bags aren't made of trees, and when they're recycled, they save more trees.

The Trex Company, a Winchester, Va., manufacturer, makes building materials such as composite lumber for decking from plastic bags and reclaimed wood.

Among their suppliers of plastic is Harris-Teeter, which collects about 1.9 million pounds of plastic a year, said Jennifer Panetta, director of communications for the Charlotte, N.C.-based grocery store chain, with stores in eight states.

"We feel it's the consumers' choice," Panetta said. "If they stop using plastic bags, we would not carry them."

Still, some cities have banned their use.

Last March, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to bar large supermarkets from handing out disposable plastic bags. China has banned grocery stores and shops from handing them out after June 1.

The natural foods supermarket Whole Foods plans to stop handing them out at its 270 stores as of Tuesday. That means roughly 100 million plastic bags will be kept out of the environment by the end of 2008, the company says.

"It's really a part of our core values as a company, caring for our communities and our environment," said Darrah Horgan, a spokesperson for Whole Foods. "We're really encouraging people to re-use and bring in their own bags if possible."

Kroger collects plastic bags, dry-cleaning bags, and other plastic shrink wrap in bins near the entrance to stores. It sells reusable bags for 99 cents.

"One reusable bag has the potential to eliminate 1,000 plastic bags over the course of the reusable bag's life time," said Meghan Glynn, spokeswoman for the Kroger Company.

McClatchy-Tribune, April 22, 2008

ATA Closing Its Doors

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:33:00 +0000

By Robert Mitchum

After 35 years in operation, ATA Airlines discontinued all flights and filed for bankruptcy Thursday, stranding thousands of travelers in the United States and Mexico, including some at Chicago's Midway Airport.

Once the nation's 10th-largest air carrier, Indianapolis-based ATA entered bankruptcy for the second time in just over three years. The company had more than 2,200 employees, and "virtually all" were told that their jobs were gone, company spokesman Michael Freitag said.

Passengers hoping to leave on a 10 a.m. flight to Guadalajara, Mexico, Thursday morning found the ATA check-in counter completely deserted when they arrived at Midway. Several sat disappointed on benches in the check-in area, using phones and laptops to look for alternative travel options.

"We're totally bummed out," said Tina Rangel, 36, of Chicago, who was flying to Guadalajara with her husband, Curtis, for a weekend vacation. "It was going to be pretty nice. We were really looking forward to it."

Rangel and other would-be passengers said they had received no advance notice of their flight's cancellation, either by phone or e-mail. Jorge Aguirre, 24, of Chicago, said he checked his flight status on ATA's Web site at 3 a.m. Thursday morning and found nothing amiss.

"They can't be doing this to people," Aguirre said. "Just because they're bankrupt doesn't give them the right to do that. They should have given us options."

Even ATA employees were caught off guard by the sudden declaration. Gladys Becker, 50, who worked as a customer service agent with the airline for 15 years, said she received a phone call at 3 a.m. telling her she did not have to show up for work Thursday, or in the future.

Becker and other employees came to the airport Thursday morning to clean out their lockers and take a few ATA signs home as souvenirs. Pam Smith, another customer service agent, said most employees knew this day was coming but were still shocked by the sudden announcement.

"It's a sad day, it's a happy day," she said. "We're happy to move on to bigger and better things, but sad because we won't see our friends anymore. It's going to be strange to not get up at 3:30 a.m., to not see everybody at the airport."

Before Thursday, ATA operated six flights daily out of Midway, flying to Oakland, Dallas/Fort Worth and Guadalajara and Cancun in Mexico. The airline announced last month that it would close its Midway hub in the coming months, ceasing all domestic flights out of Midway April 14 and all international flights from the airport June 7.

ATA said in a statement that the cancellation of a critical agreement with FedEx Corp. for most of the airline's charter business left it unable to offset exorbitant fuel prices.

Customers who purchased tickets from ATA using a credit card should contact their credit card provider directly for more information about how to obtain a refund for unused tickets, ATA said. Customers who purchased tickets from Southwest Airlines for flights operated by ATA should contact Southwest at 800-308-5037 for more information.

ATA's frequent-flier program and all accumulated frequent flier points will be canceled.

Four Hands Guitar Player

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:37:00 +0000

How Much Your Coins Are Worth?

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:32:00 +0000

By Jim Tankersley

WASHINGTON - These days, your thoughts are worth 1.7 cents.

That's what it costs the government to forge a penny, thanks to the rising price of metal. A nickel costs 10 cents. Congress, in its infinite wisdom, has concluded that's a pretty bad deal.

A House subcommittee led by Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) convened a hearing Tuesday on a proposal to change the composition of both coins. Republicans and Democrats like the concept, particularly its promise to save taxpayers $100 million a year by using cheaper metals at the U.S. Mint. If the legislation clears the House and Senate and President Bush signs it, you could be plucking steel pennies off the street before year's end.

In Washington, of course, nothing is that simple.

There are bureaucracies to navigate and interest groups to appease. There are lobbyists and powerful home-state imperatives. There are questions of constitutionality and whether the penny should exist at all. There are biting words from Ron Paul, the Texas congressman whose long-shot presidential bid fell short.

And despite Gutierrez's plea that "we need to act immediately," it appears there will be months more of debate before Congress votes on fixing the penny problem.

The Mint has coined American money since 1792. Congress has given it the power to tweak coin composition several times. Rationing begat a steel penny and a no-nickel 5-cent piece during World War II. Rising prices pushed silver out of coins in the 1960s. Copper inflation gave us the current penny, which is copper-plated zinc, in the early '80s.

Until recently, Mint officials say, no American coin had ever cost more to produce than it was worth.

Global metal prices began rising in 2003, driven by increased demand for raw materials, particularly in India and China, according to Mint statistics. The price of copper quadrupled in the past five years. Nickel more than tripled, and zinc nearly did the same. The Mint lost $33 million on penny and nickel production in the 2006 fiscal year. In 2007, it lost $99 million.

"There is no indication," Mint Director Edmund Moy told the House Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology in written testimony, "that copper, nickel and zinc prices will decrease over the short term."

Steel pennies in 180 days

Enter the Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008, the subject of Tuesday's hearing. It would give the Treasury authority to set the weight and composition of any coin whose production costs exceed its face value for five consecutive years. It also requires the Mint to start producing a primarily steel penny within 180 days of the bill becoming law, so taxpayers would save money almost right away.

The bill requires any new coin to work in existing vending machines. That's a concession to the National Automatic Merchandising Association, which opposed an earlier version for fear that it could force hundreds of dollars in upgrades to each of the nation's more than 6 million dispensers of soda, snacks and other items. An association lobbyist testified in favor of the revised bill on Tuesday.

Other concerns persist. Moy told the subcommittee that six months isn't nearly enough time to produce a steel penny and that the five-years-of-losses requirement would prevent the Treasury from stepping in early if the dime or quarter -- which currently run 7 and 10 cents to produce, respectively -- suddenly grow more expensive.

Several Republicans worried about Congress giving up coinage control to the executive branch. "It seems to me that the Mint has been the leader in slowing down changes to coin composition," said Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), who introduced a bill last year that would have mandated a cheaper penny.

Paul called the current proposal an unconstitutional delegation of power and a symbol of "how far we have fallen" in monetary policy. America, he said, has failed to maintain a gold standard or silver standard for its currency. "Now," he said, "we cannot even maintain a zinc standard."

Scrap all pennies?

Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) raised the long-simmering question of whether America should scrap the penny entirely. The pennies he collects go into "an old beer mug I have from college," Castle noted.

Gutierrez said he hopes to get the bill out of committee by summer, after some tweaks to address the Mint's objections. Other subcommittee members also seemed eager to get their hands on it. "This is going to be a good bill to work with," said Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.). "I can see some good amendments coming for this."

Lucky penny

For one year, 1943, the penny was made of zinc-coated steel because of critical war needs for copper. But 40 copper-alloy cents are known to have been struck that year, possibly by accident. Top amount paid for a 1943 copper cent: $82,500 in 1996.

Link here

Sharper Image's Gift Card with Zero Value

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:32:00 +0000

By Marty Orgel

As you are reading this, you might need to check your wallet as well. Because if you own one of many gift cards issued by Sharper Image company I am afraid to rock your boat that it is now has zero value.

See the following report below.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The Sharper Image's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing reveals the downside of popular and convenient store gift cards. Tens of millions of dollars in gift cards and certificates became worthless overnight in the wake of the Sharper Image's financial plight -- and customers holding those cards have little recourse. Federal law allows a company to stop honoring store gift cards when it files Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and that's exactly what's happening at San Francisco-based Sharper Image. Sales clerks are telling customers they can no longer accept the plastic cards as payment, and the cards are no longer accepted when customers try to use them online.

Sharper Image could be sitting on as much as $25 million dollars in gift card money, according to an estimate by Brian Riley, a senior analyst with the Needham, Mass.-based TowerGroup, a research and advisory services firm. Riley follows Sharper Image. That figure comes from the retailer's Form 10-K filing in January 2007, in which the company reported it had $31 million in deferred revenue on its books. Riley estimates 80% of that is from gift cards. "My swag estimate and it's not more than a swag guess," Riley said, "is that Sharper Image has between $20 and $25 million in ... open gift cards." That's millions of dollars in cash shelled out by consumers who bought or received Sharper Image gift cards before the company filed for bankruptcy.
The gift card market is a $50 billion dollar a year industry, but it's an industry with few controls in place. Many states have ruled that gift cards cannot expire except under specific, limited instances. But in situations where a company goes bankrupt, consumers' standing is much less clear.

Federal law does say the holder of the certificate or card may have a claim against the bankruptcy estate. But Riley believes all of those cards and store credit receipts are probably worthless. "There's a good chance the dollars will be lost," Riley said. "A lot will have to do with how the courts interpret it and how the consumer should be protected." Rays of hope

A customer service representative answering Sharper Image's toll-free telephone number said customers should check back with store workers in mid-March, because company officials are still trying to determine whether they will eventually honor those cards. Riley said there is a slim chance that could happen, especially if Sharper Image intends to try to stay in business. In that case, company officials may decide to honor gift cards as a good faith effort for customers.

Riley said he doesn't expect that to happen. But there is enough action being generated online that consumers should hold on to their Sharper Image gift cards and check back with the company from time to time in case it decides to accept them again, if just for the positive public relations that action would generate. The Sharper Image bankruptcy is already generating offers from other retailers hoping to capitalize on the ailing company's woes. For a limited time, rival gadget retailer Brookstone Inc. is offering a 25% discount for anyone who turns in a Sharper Image gift card when making an in-store purchase. Brookstone is not offering customers 25% of what their Sharper Image gift card is worth - it's offering to take 25% off the Brookstone purchase price for anyone who turns over a Sharper Image card. Other rules apply, so shoppers should check with the retailer for complete details. See details on the Brookstone site.

A relatively new company that offers insurance on gift cards is Leverage. The Web site, now operating in beta, will exchange Sharper Image gift cards for any other cards it carries, for equal value. The caveat, though, is that you had to have bought your original Sharper Image gift card through the site. See full story. Riley said the Sharper Image situation illustrates an often overlooked drawback in gift cards, even as they grow more popular every year. "You're really just putting money into an unsecured institution," he said. "That is something people don't usually realize when they buy gift cards." Consumers can petition the courts in an effort to recoup some of the value on the cards, but it likely will be a frustrating experience, Riley said. "Who's going to go through all of that effort," he said, "for a $25 or $50 gift card?"

The Brick

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:46:00 +0000

I received the following story from a friend of mine. No author's name mentioned. Note: I am not the author.

Start reading...

A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown. The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, 'What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?' The young boy was apologetic. 'Please, mister...please, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do,' He pleaded. 'I threw the brick because no one else would stop...' With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car. 'It's my brother, 'he said. 'He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up.' Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, 'Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me.'

Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everythingwas going to be okay. 'Thank you and may God bless you,' the grateful child told the stranger. Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy! push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home.

It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message: 'Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!' God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don't have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us. It's our choice to listen or not.

Illinois ID Cards

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:38:00 +0000

View Samples

Press Release

FAQs Page

What is different about these new Drivers' License (DL) and Identification (ID) cards?
The card layout and format are slightly different, but the textual information included on drivers' licenses and identification cards has not changed.

Additionally, the types of driver's licenses remain the same, but they are designated by a new color scheme, reflecting international standards:

* All Drivers' Licenses: Red color bar, text is "DRIVER'S LICENSE"
* All Commercial Drivers' Licenses (CDL): Red color bar, text is "CDL"
* All Temporary Visitor Drivers' Licenses (TVDL): Purple color bar, text is "TVDL"
* All Identification Cards (ID): Green color bar, text is "ID CARD".

The card for drivers under the age of 21 remains oriented vertically, as it has been since 2005. The cards for persons aged 21 and over remains oriented horizontally.

The card is made of different material, because it is now produced using updated technology. It no longer has a matte finish.

There are more security features for use by law enforcement and others who have a need to verify the authenticity of the card. These features include a ghost image, guilloche patterns (fine lines), a UV feature, and microtext.

On the back of ID cards only, the following text is included: "FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES ONLY. NOT A LICENSE TO DRIVE."

The Office of the Secretary of State web site address, www.cyberdriveillinois.com, now appears on the back of both drivers' licenses and identification cards.

The Organ Donor designation has also changed. For cardholders who have joined the Organ/Tissue Donor Registry, the word "DONOR" is now inserted in a red graphic of the state. Areas for medical information remain on the back of the card, and are simply relocated.

There are no changes in fees, eligibility requirements, or any other aspect of applying for and obtaining a driver's license or identification card.

Great Tips When Out Shopping

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:04:00 +0000

BY STEPHANIE ZIMMERMANN The Fixer

Globalization, increasing energy costs, the rise of Asia as an economic power -- all can seem pretty abstract at times.

Until you buy milk and find the cost has jumped 22 percent in a year.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Americans spend about $1,848 per capita on groceries each year. That's a lot of Cheetos. Seeing as how that figure is growing higher by the moment, The Fixer has some ways to save money at the supermarket.

First, realize that grocery stores purposely spread their staple items -- veggies, fruits, breads, eggs, milk, etc. -- as far from each other as possible, so you've got to go through the entire store to shop. Because of this, you need to bring a list and stay focused -- and preferably shop without the kids (see below).

Some more tips:

• Never shop on an empty stomach. There's a reason why the store bakery is making bread all day. It has been proven that shoppers who smell baking bread buy more. Ditto for the free samples. So eat something before leaving home, and stick to your list.

• Don't pay a "kid tax." Manufacturers pay stores to place expensive kids' items at a child's eye level in the hope that the kids will beg you to put it in the cart. We stooped down in the cereal aisle to check out the colorful boxes at our knees and could see why kids would grab the expensive Fruit Loops Smoothie cereal, which will set you back a whopping $4.29.

• To coupon or not to coupon. That is the question -- and the answer is: Only if you'd normally buy it. We found a coupon -- again, at a kid's eye level -- for fruit roll-ups, but it required us to buy two boxes (for a total of $6), and then we'd only save 50 cents. Better to save the whole $5.50 and forget it.

• When a sale isn't a sale. Manufacturers love the coveted end aisles, where the store puts up a "sale" sign and you assume it's a great deal. Sometimes it is, and if you find a "loss leader" in a product you need, definitely stock up. But we found Cheez-It crackers on an end aisle on sale for $3.29 for 10 ounces, or 32.9 cents an ounce. When we went to the regular cracker aisle and looked below our eye level, we found a better deal: a 16-ounce box for $4.79 or only 29.9 cents per ounce.

• Bulk is not always better. Consumers have been trained to assume that "family-size" packages are cheaper. Not always. Check the unit prices to compare. We found an eight-roll package of paper towels for $9.99 and assumed the bigger, 12-roll package would be cheaper. But at $14.99, that huge package had the exact same unit price. Unless we needed tons of towels, we'd be better off with the little one.

• Holiday creep. It's only February, yet the Easter candy is on sale in the hope that you'll buy it now, eat it all this week and come back to buy more before Easter. Do you really need that $3.49 bag of Easter M&Ms, even if it is marked down to $2.55?

• Stupid claims. We thought we'd struck gold with the 200-ounce Gain laundry detergent we found on an end aisle. A bright label screamed "33 percent more," making us think we were getting 33 percent more than we'd usually get at the same price. A closer look found fine print saying "more than the 150-ounces." Well, duh, yes -- 200 ounces is 33 percent more than 150 ounces. So it's meaningless!

• Scanner errors. In our little trip, we got hit with a 20-cent overcharge at the scanner, a reminder to watch carefully at check-out time, too.

For more on saving money at the supermarket, check out The Fixer on WFLD-32's "Good Morning Chicago" at 8:45 a.m. today and The Fixer's buyer beware video at www.suntimes.com.
Protection from debt protection

Dear Readers: If you've ever bought something expensive on an installment plan or by applying for a store card on the spot, you may have gotten something unexpected in the process: a debt protection plan.

Some stores push these plans -- for a fee -- at the time of the sale, hoping to hook consumers before they have a moment to think about whether they really want, or need, such a plan.

Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) this month introduced legislation that would give consumers a little breathing room. HB 5577 would require retailers to wait at least three days before offering customers a debt protection plan.

It also would require the consumer to sign a separate contract if they want debt protection -- and would force the seller to clearly disclose both parties' obligations.

This sounds fair to The Fixer. Let your state legislators know what you think. The bill is up for a hearing in the House Consumer Protection Committee on Tuesday.

Stanford Cuts Tuition

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:52:00 +0000

By Associated Press February 20, 2008

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Attending Stanford University next year will be a lot more affordable for some undergraduate students.

The university said Wednesday it plans to eliminate tuition for students with annual family incomes totaling less than $100,000. It also will pay most room and board for students with families making less than $60,000.

Financial aid director Karen Cooper says the move comes as middle-income parents express concern about paying for a Stanford education.

Stanford tuition is expected to rise to $36,000 in the fall. Room and board will cost about $11,000. About a third of the university's 6,700 undergraduates are expected to qualify for the tuition break.

Giuliani Tells Obama 'You're No Reagan'

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:46:00 +0000

By LIBBY QUAID | Associated Press Writer
October 17, 2007

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday ridiculed Democratic rival Barack Obama for saying he would meet, without precondition, with leaders of renegade nations.

The Obama campaign answered back, arguing that Giuliani may not want to engage in diplomacy with outlaw leaders but he's been willing to take their money.

Addressing the Republican Jewish Coalition, Giuliani described Obama's offer, during a presidential debate in July, to meet as president with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea.

"Then he went on to explain that Ronald Reagan negotiated with the communists," Giuliani said, pausing and sighing. "I say this most respectfully: You're not Ronald Reagan, you know?"

The audience in a downtown Washington hotel laughed and clapped.

"Here's what Ronald Reagan did before he negotiated with communists," the former New York mayor continued. "First he called them the evil empire. Then he took missiles, intermediate-range missiles ... and he put them in European cities, and he pointed the missiles at Russian cities with names on them.

"Then he said, in a very nice way, 'Let's negotiate.'"

Obama's campaign had a ready response, citing the links between Giuliani's law firm and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.

"While Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton do not think we should engage in the type of strong diplomacy practiced by Ronald Reagan and John Kennedy, Obama does," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said. "And given the hefty fee that Hugo Chavez's oil company paid Rudy Giuliani's firm, he apparently thinks we shouldn't talk to Chavez, but it's fine to take his money."

Giuliani's law firm, Houston-based Bracewell & Giuliani, represents an American subsidiary of an oil company controlled by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Petroleos de Venezuela, the country's national oil company controlled by Chavez, purchased U.S.-based Citgo Petroleum Corp. in 1990, and Giuliani's firm represents Citgo before the Texas legislature.

To date, Giuliani has directed most of his criticism at Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Office Complaints

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 14:08:00 +0000

How Loud is too Loud?
by Tara Weiss

While working at a weekly newspaper in Wisconsin, Angela Kargus became intimately acquainted with a co-worker's personal life. Kargus learned about her fertility problems, that her dog urinates all over the carpet and that she does indeed have a regular menstrual cycle.

You're right to think these are the kind of personal details shared over a cup of coffee or on a friend's couch. Unfortunately, that's not what happened. Kargus and her co-worker aren't even friends. But her co-worker is a classic workplace loud talker. She yapped on her cellphone throughout the day with friends and, quite frequently, her mother.

This probably sounds familiar. Office loud talkers are everywhere, and the worst part is, they probably don't even realize they've been labeled as such. To the unknowing, here's a tip: Proper decorum calls for people to take personal conversations outside the office or into the hallway, especially since so many workplaces are in an open format where only top managers have offices (and doors they can close).

We're not all so lucky. In fact, the office loud talker certainly isn't the only pet peeve known to cubicle land. Among the more popular (or, actually, unpopular) are using a speakerphone with the door open or while in a public area; leaving the kitchen a mess; bringing potent-smelling food for lunch; and leaving the sound on the computer so everyone hears the ding of an instant message.

Despite the laundry list of complaints, the loud talker wins the award for most annoying. Of 2,318 people surveyed in March 2006 by Harris Interactive and Randstad, 32% say an office loud talker is their biggest pet peeve. Coming in a close second at 30% is using an annoying cellphone ringtone; 22% said speakerphones are their No. 1 peeve.

As for Kargus and her colleagues, no one in the newsroom ever complained directly to their co-worker. Kargus was nervous that her co-worker would get upset and seek retribution or that it would create a tense atmosphere.

Worse than the conversations that reduced Kargus' ability to concentrate was her co-worker's annoying cellphone ring: the Mexican Hat Dance.

"Writing is something you need to be in that zone to do," says Kargus, now director of media relations at the American Chiropractic Association. "Having the Mexican Hat Dance ringing breaks you out of the zone."

Not saying anything to the co-worker was a mistake, says Barbara Pachter, an executive coach who specializes in business etiquette. It's just a matter of saying it in the right tone of voice. "Be polite yet powerful," says Pachter, author of When the Little Things Count ... and They Always Count.

Do that by saying what's bothering you and explaining the effect it has on your work. Then ask the person to either lower his or her voice or take personal calls out of the office. Then, ask if that's OK, to make sure the other person understands and will comply. Pachter offers a more specific example: "Hey, you might not realize--I hear your conversation and it's distracting to me. I'm having a hard time working. Could you please lower your voice? OK?"

For a situation like the one Kargus found herself in with her former co-worker, you can even make a joke out of hearing personal details. Say something like: "I don't think you want me to know that about you."

For repeat offenders, just give them a reminder by saying, "Remember that conversation we had the other day? Your voice is getting loud again."

Randstad, the staffing organization that contracted the pet peeve survey, takes workplace etiquette so seriously it incorporates it into new-hire seminars. Newsrooms, like the one Kargus worked in, are one extreme. They tend to be loud, open workplaces. The environment at Randstad is the opposite extreme. Personal cellphones must be on vibrate or silent the minute employees walk in the door. If they're not, someone will likely send a note that says, "Remember the rule? Turn your ringer off." To maintain a "professional" atmosphere, employees are only allowed to have two personal pictures on their desks.

Private rooms are provided where employees can make personal calls. And on some floors at every sixth desk, there is a table where four or five people can do work together. "We do that so there isn't that socializing that distracts other employees," says Genia Spencer, Randstad's managing director of human resources.

It's not likely most offices will go to that extreme or that it would even work. In the meantime, remember this: Silence your cellphone, eat smelly lunches in the cafeteria, turn the volume down on your computer and close the door when you use speakerphone! It will make for a much happier and productive workplace

AILA is Preparing Legal Action Against USCIS and DOS

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 18:29:00 +0000

AILA is preparing legal action against USCIS and DOS regarding the I-485 / Visa Bulletin date changed. It will be filed as a class action. AILA expects that one or more of the proposed classes of plaintiffs will include individuals who do not apply for adjustment of status in July 2007, but who were statutorily eligible to apply and would have applied in July 2007 but for the DOS and USCIS actions.

More info go to: Visa Bulletin or AILA Bulletin.

Info about Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren sending letter to Michael Chertoff (Secretary U.S. Department of Homeland Security) and Condoleezza Rice (Secretary U.S. Department of State)

False Emergency Alert Hits Chicago Airwaves

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:24:00 +0000

Tribune staff report
Published June 26, 2007

If you were listening to the radio or watching television this morning, you might have been confused by what appeared to be an emergency alert.

Numerous local stations were interrupted around 7:45 a.m. by what seemed to be an announcement from the Emergency Alert System. There was no indication it was a test message, and on-air hosts such as WGN-AM 720's Spike O'Dell were as surprised as listeners were.

"This is Spike at WGN," O'Dell said on the air after the station had gone silent for more than 2 minutes. "We are trying to figure out what's going on."

State officials said they believe the problem originated at the federal level.

On Monday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency installed a new satellite warning system for Illinois as part of a program set for all 50 states, Illinois Emergency Management Agency director Andrew Velasquez III said in a news release.

He said FEMA conducted a test of the new system this morning, but rather than sending an internal test message the signal was mistakenly sent out to broadcast stations.

"We don't know why the federal government used a 'hot' or active code rather than a test code when they sent out this test message," Velasquez said.

He said four messages were reportedly sent out as part of the test.

There was no emergency, and the state agency was not told that the test would be conducted, the news release said.

Calls to the Federal Emergency Management Agency were not immediately returned.

The Federal Communications Commission received reports of problems in Illinois and the St. Louis area, spokesman Rob Kenny said.

FCC officials were investigating the series of glitches that broadcast stations said included periodic interruptions of programming by the Emergency Alert System's tone, sometimes lasting 3 or 4 minutes at a time.

Others said their signals were scrambled and that other stations were being broadcast on their frequencies.

The Emergency Alert System replaced the former Emergency Broadcast System. It can be activated by the federal government, by states or by the National Weather Service.

Gov's Commute Costing Ill. Taxpayers Big

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 21:53:00 +0000

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich's practice of flying from his Chicago home to the Capitol in Springfield and back for daily budget negotiations is costing Illinois taxpayers more than $5,800 a day -- roughly $76,000 since late May and climbing.

An Associated Press analysis of state flight records shows Blagojevich made nine round trips on state airplanes from May 22 to June 7, and he appears to have made at least four more since then.

Several of those flights came while the governor's aides were admonishing lawmakers for not spending enough time in the Capitol working on the budget.

With the first eight flights, Blagojevich averaged less than five hours in Springfield per trip. On the ninth, he stayed two nights as lawmakers tried to meet a May 31 budget-approval deadline. They missed that deadline, and the Democrats who dominate Illinois government remained deadlocked Thursday, which likely means more flights for the governor, a fellow Democrat.

Based on the state auditor's calculations, the actual cost of flying the governor's plane between Chicago and Springfield is $9.81 per mile.

That puts the cost of Blagojevich's nine flights for which official records are available at $52,540. Detailed records aren't available for the flights since June 7, but averages from previous day trips suggest an additional cost of $23,300.

Blagojevich's office refused to answer questions about the matter.

Sen. Chris Lauzen, an Aurora Republican who serves as co-chairman of the Legislative Audit Commission, called the governor's travel an "enormous waste" and noted that it amounted to more than a teacher's annual salary.

Illinois has an Executive Mansion in Springfield, and past governors have either lived in the capital or at least stayed there while the Legislature was in session. Blagojevich lives in Chicago and prefers to go home at the end of each day.

Lawmakers typically meet in Springfield three days a week, and Blagojevich has been flying to Springfield each day. If he arrived at the start of each week's session and stayed at the Executive Mansion until the end, the cost of his flights would be about two-thirds less.

By JOHN O'CONNOR

Deal On Immigration Reform Bill

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Thu, 17 May 2007 20:44:00 +0000

Senators strike deal on immigration reform bill
Compromise deal would legalize millions of illegal immigrants

The Associated Press

May 17, 2007

WASHINGTON - Key senators in both parties and the White House announced agreement Thursday on an immigration overhaul that would grant quick legal status to millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S. and fortify the border.

The plan would create a temporary worker program to bring new arrivals to the U.S and a separate program to cover agricultural workers. Skills and education-level would for the first time be weighted over family connections in deciding whether future immigrants should get permanent legal status. New high-tech employment verification measures also would be instituted to ensure that workers are here legally.

The compromise came after weeks of painstaking closed-door negotiations that brought the most liberal Democrats and the most conservative Republicans together with President Bush's Cabinet officers to produce a highly complex measure that carries heavy political consequences.

Bush praises deal
Bush called it "a much-needed solution to the problem of illegal immigration in this country" and said, if approved, the proposal "delivers an immigration system that is secure, productive, orderly and fair."

"With this bipartisan agreement, I am confident leaders in Washington can have a serious, civil and conclusive debate so I can sign comprehensive reform into law this year," he said in a written statement Thursday.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, his party's lead negotiator on the deal, hailed it as "the best possible chance we will have in years to secure our borders and bring millions of people out of the shadows and into the sunshine of America."

Anticipating criticism from conservatives, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said, "It is not amnesty. This will restore the rule of law."

The accord sets the stage for what promises to be a bruising battle next week in the Senate on one of Bush's top non-war priorities.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the proposal a "starting point" for that debate, but added that it needs improvement.

"I have serious concerns about some aspects of this proposal, including the structure of the temporary worker program and undue limitations on family immigration," Reid said in a statement.

'Point system' breakthrough
The key breakthrough came when negotiators struck a bargain on a so-called "point system" that prioritizes immigrants' education and skill level over family connections in deciding how to award green cards.

The immigration issue also divides both parties in the House, which isn't expected to act unless the Senate passes a bill first.

The proposed agreement would allow illegal immigrants to come forward and obtain a "Z visa" and — after paying fees and a $5,000 fine — ultimately get on track for permanent residency, which could take between eight and 13 years. Heads of household would have to return to their home countries first.

They could come forward right away to claim a probationary card that would let them live and work legally in the U.S., but could not begin the path to permanent residency or citizenship until border security improvements and the high-tech worker identification program were completed.

A new temporary guest worker program would also have to wait until those so-called "triggers" had been activated.

Those workers would have to return home after work stints of two years, with little opportunity to gain permanent legal status or ever become U.S. citizens. They could renew their guest worker visas twice, but would be required to leave for a year in between each time.

Democrats had pressed instead for guest workers to be permitted to stay and work indefinitely in the U.S.

In perhaps the most hotly debated change, the proposed plan would shift from an immigration system primarily weighted toward family ties toward one with preferences for people with advanced degrees and sophisticated skills. Republicans have long sought such revisions, which they say are needed to end "chain migration" that harms the economy, while some Democrats and liberal groups say it's an unfair system that rips families apart.

Family connections alone would no longer be enough to qualify for a green card — except for spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens.

New limits would apply to U.S. citizens seeking to bring foreign-born parents into the country.
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Work Visas May Work Against the U.S.

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Thu, 17 May 2007 14:39:00 +0000

Indian outsourcers file the most applications for temporary H-1B visas. Are they using them to train staff for jobs abroad?

by Peter Elstrom

America's visa program for temporary workers was originally set up to allow U.S. companies to bring skilled workers who are in short supply to the U.S. Microsoft (MSFT), IBM (IBM), Intel (INTC), Oracle (ORCL), and Sun Microsystems (SUNW) have been active participants in the program, hiring foreign workers for specialized computer programming jobs and positions managing projects with overseas staff.

The visas, known as H-1Bs, are popular enough that President George W. Bush is calling for an increase in the cap on the number of workers who can come to the U.S. under the program. "We've got to expand what's called H-1B visas," he said in a January speech. "It makes no sense to say to a young scientist in India, you can't come to America to help this [country] develop technologies that help us deal with our problems."
Outsourcing Conduit…

But a review of new information from the federal government suggests that the companies benefiting most from the temporary worker program aren't U.S. companies at all. Rather, they appear to be Indian outsourcing firms, which often hire workers from India to train in the U.S. before returning home to work. Data for the fiscal year 2006, which ended last September, show that 7 of the top 10 applicants for H-1B visas are Indian companies. Giants Infosys Technologies (INFY) and Wipro (WIT) took the top two spots, with 22,600 and 19,400 applications, respectively. The company with the third most applications is Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH), which is based in Teaneck, N.J., but has most of its operations in India. All three companies provide services to U.S. companies from India, including technology support and back-office processing.

The only other U.S. companies among the top 10 are the accounting and consulting firm Deloitte & Touche and consultancy Accenture (ACN). They rank seventh and ninth, with 8,000 and 7,000 applications, respectively.

The dominance of Indian outsourcing companies raises public policy questions about the temporary visa program. Some experts say that while the intent of H-1B visas may be to help U.S. companies hire workers with rare skills, the effect in some cases may be to facilitate moving jobs abroad. The issue has also sparked concern among some prominent U.S. tech companies, which worry that outsourcers could abuse the visa program, harming the tech firms' ability to attract foreign talent.

Ron Hira, a public policy professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, says it appears that Indian firms may be using their H-1Bs to bring in workers from their home countries to make them more effective at outsourcing jobs in India. "The visa program serves a good purpose when it brings in the best and the brightest," says Hira, who is on leave at the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute and crunched the recently released visa data to compile the list of top applicants. He says that as recently as 1998 eight of the top 10 H-1B visa applicants were U.S. companies. "It serves a bad purpose when it's used to facilitate outsourcing."
Or Competitive Edge?

The Indian outsourcing firms say that's a misinterpretation of the data. They argue that the temporary visa program allows outsourcing firms to help U.S. companies become more flexible and ultimately more competitive in the global economy. Wipro has more than 4,000 employees in the U.S., and roughly 2,500 are on H-1B visas. About 1,000 new temporary workers come to the country each year, while 1,000 rotate back to India, with improved skills to serve clients. "Our goal is to make our customers more competitive," says Laxman Badiga, Wipro's chief information officer. An Infosys spokeswoman said executives from that company were not available for comment.

The government visa data cover only the number of applications for visas, not the number actually awarded. U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services releases the identities of companies that apply for H-1B visas, not those that receive them. A spokesman for USCIS, which is part of the Homeland Security Dept., says it won't discuss individual companies because of privacy issues.

Still, the number of visas awarded is likely correlated to the number of applications. Efran Hernandez, chief of business and trade services for USCIS, says H-1B visas are awarded on a "first-come, first-serve" basis and there is no preference given to U.S. companies over non-U.S. companies. "You have to be a U.S. employer," says Hernandez. "That doesn't mean you have to be a U.S. company."

No Market Test for H-1B

In addition, the temporary visa program includes no requirement that companies in the U.S. try to hire American employees before they turn to foreign workers. To obtain a permanent visa, companies must conduct and provide to the government a labor market test, in which they demonstrate that they sought to hire American workers first. But the H-1B temporary visa program mandates no such market test. Instead, companies are required only to pay the prevailing wages and benefits for a certain job in a certain market.

The government, including USCIS, says that the provision means that most companies are going to hire Americans, because there's no financial advantage to choosing a non-U.S. worker. But Hira says Indian companies could choose to hire workers from India for training purposes, rather than financial gain. Government officials acknowledge that companies that want to give preference to workers from other countries could theoretically do so. "There's nothing built into the law to stop that," says Hernandez.

Many U.S. companies are enthusiastic supporters of the H-1B visa program. Tech companies may be the most active participants, but the visas are also used by companies from General Electric (GE) and Boeing (BA) to Lehman Brothers (LEH) and Caterpillar (CAT). Companies have been lobbying the government to increase the cap on the number of H-1B visas from the current 65,000. (Because there are exceptions for certain kinds of jobs, the number of visas issued regularly exceeds that level.)
Squeeze on Temporary Visas

Top technology companies would like to see the cap almost twice as high as it is now. The Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC), whose backers include Apple (AAPL), Dell (DELL), eBay (EBAY), and Intel, last year asked that the cap be raised to 115,000. The group says that bringing foreign workers with very specialized skills to the U.S.—both temporarily and permanently—is critical to increase innovation and competitiveness. "Visas are a key component of the innovation agenda," says Kara Calvert, director of government relations for the council. "It's really important to grow the economy here rather than overseas."

Yet the ITIC has become concerned in recent months that the temporary visa program is not being used for its original purpose. The council's members may not be able to get the workers they want from abroad because the numerous applications from non-U.S. companies mean fewer H-1B visas are available for U.S. companies. "We hit the cap earlier and earlier," Calvert says. "We think it's important to ensure that the visas are used for the purpose for which they were intended."

One reason for the squeeze may be that Indian outsourcers have boosted their visa applications just as the cap has been lowered. Wipro applied for 3,100 visas in 2001, when the H-1B cap was 195,000 workers, according to Hira's calculations. Wipro applied for six times that many H-1B visas last year, when the cap was a third of the previous total.
No Easy Answers

Wipro's Badiga says Indian companies are helping to create good jobs in the U.S. and fostering innovation. The jobs that Wipro offers in the U.S. to both Indian and U.S. workers, he says, are more skilled positions for high-level software design or important customer relations. What he calls "rote programming jobs" are done from India. He says that the H-1B visa program allows Wipro workers to get valuable experience in the States and be more effective at serving customers in the U.S. "The key question is whether we can create the best value chain to help our customers be as competitive as possible," says Badiga.

Even critics say that there are no easy solutions for revising the temporary worker program. Restricting the ability of Indian outsourcing companies to use H-1Bs, for example, may not stop them from being used for more effective outsourcing. Accenture, an active participant in the program and one of the top U. S. outsourcing firms, could hypothetically use the visas in exactly the same way that Wipro and Infosys do. A spokeswoman for Accenture did not return calls seeking comment.

U.S. tech companies may push for revisions to the H-1B program. They could ask that Congress limit the number of visas that go to non-U.S. companies or that the identities of the recipients be disclosed fully and speedily. President Bush has said that he wants to work with the Democratic Congress on new immigration and visa policies, although it's unclear what shape those reforms might take (see BusinessWeek.com, 1/24/07, "Salesman In Chief"). "If companies are abusing those visas, that hurts U.S. companies," says the ITIC's Calvert. "We want to be at the table when the discussions [on H-1Bs] occur."

Elstrom is news director at BusinessWeek.com.

Chicago Ordered to Dump Olympics Logo

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Wed, 16 May 2007 21:34:00 +0000

Chicago must remove the image of a torch from its logo for its 2016 Summer Olympic bid because it violates International Olympic Committee rules of conduct for host-city hopefuls, the Tribune has learned.

Chicago has been subject to those rules since February, when the IOC executive board decided they applied to a city as soon as it expressed interest in bidding. But the Chicago bid committee was not told to change the city's logo until this week.

The IOC's bid rules state that logos ``shall not contain the Olympic symbol, the Olympic motto, the Olympic flag, any other Olympic-related imagery (e.g. flame, torch, medal, etc.), slogan, designation or other indicia or the distorted version thereof or a design confusingly similar thereto.''

``Logos change in various phases of the bid process,'' Chicago 2016 spokesman Michael Kontos said. ``We are going to abide by the rules of this phase of the process, as we have abided by the rules of the previous phases.

``Several weeks ago we did seek clarification whether the logo in its current fashion would be seen as out of sync with the rules going forward. We received clarification this week.'' Chicago has begun the process of developing a new logo to convey its Olympic vision and concept, according to Kontos.

The IOC is fiercely protective of its imagery and nomenclature, especially that of the Olympic rings and the words ``Olympic'' and ``Olympics'' for financial reasons.

It has sued businesses, including mom-and-pop restaurants, that use those words in their name. To critics who call such legal action heavy-handed, IOC officials reply it is necessary to protect the investment of sponsors who pay as much as $100 million every four years for global rights to use the words and symbols.

Separately, the IOC released its 2016 candidate acceptance procedure today, a procedure that does allow bidding cities to use the Olympic rings once they are named finalists. That will happen in June 2008.

That date is among the key dates announced by the IOC as it officially began the 2016 bid process today, some two months earlier than expected. IOC officials previously had said they did not expect to create a timeline until after the July 4 vote for host of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

The IOC's announcement said the vote for the 2016 host will be Oct. 2, 2009, in Copenhagen.

Madrid, Tokyo, and Rio de Janeiro are expected to submit bids. Officials in Rome, Prague, St. Petersburg, Doha, Qatar, and Baku, Azerbaijan all have said they are considering bids.

The IOC divides the candidacy process into two phases. Phase I began today with the invitation to all 203 National Olympic Committees to submit by Sept. 13 an applicant city for the 2016 Games.

The cities must also pay a nonrefundable $150,000 application fee by Oct. 1.

The interested cities must then submit an application based on an IOC questionnaire, by Jan. 14, 2008. In that filing, each city must provide letters of guarantee related to marketing, hotel standards and entry to their country.

The last guarantee is for ``free access to and free movement around the host country for all accredited persons on the basis of a passport (or equivalent document) and the Olympic identity and accreditation card referred to in the Olympic Charter."

That has become problematic for U.S. bidders because of visa restrictions implemented after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The United States Olympic Committee has been working with government officials to resolve the issue.

The IOC executive board will review the application files for approximately six months to determine which cities should become finalists, a designation that implies the city is capable of hosting the Olympics.

That begins Phase II, when the finalists pay a nonrefundable $500,000 candidate fee and submit by Feb. 12, 2009, a detailed description of their Olympic plans.

This candidacy filing, which usually comprises three volumes and about 600 pages, will be used by the IOC evaluation commission when it visits each finalist. Dates for those visits are yet to be determined but likely will be in April and May 2009.

One month before the vote, the evaluation commission will publish a report based on the candidacy filings and the visits.

These reports have become increasingly more informational and less judgmental, and the evaluation commission almost certainly will issue no rankings or recommendations based on the evaluation.

Cities cannot promote their bids internationally until Phase II begins, but they can send delegations to designated events to talk with international sports officials. Chicago already has done in Africa and China.

By Philip Hersh
Tribune Olympic sports reporter

Couple Finds Dead Woman's Body During Home Tour

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Wed, 02 May 2007 20:44:00 +0000

JANESVILLE, Wis. -- A real estate agent will likely do a house check before bringing in prospective customers after one couple happened upon a homeowner in bed -- dead.

Linda Chabucos-Galow, a real estate agent with Shorewest, stood in the dining room while Justin and Colleen McKeen walked through a house Monday night.

Before long, she heard Colleen scream.

"I thought, 'What's wrong?' Maybe it was a dead mouse or something," Chabucos-Galow said.

But then she peered into the bedroom and saw the body of Linda L. O'Leary, 55, the owner of the home. She had been dead for about two weeks, officials said.

"It looked like a Halloween prop," Chabucos-Galow said.

The uncovered body was wearing dark shorts. Chabucos-Galow said O'Leary's legs were wrapped in material that appeared similar to cheesecloth or support hose.

"If we spent five minutes in there, I'd be stretching it," Chabucos-Galow said.

She told the couple: "'We need to leave. This is not right. We need to get out of here."'

Gale Kent, the Coldwell Banker First United Realty agent who listed the house, said the property was for sale "for a while," but wouldn't say how many times it had been shown in recent weeks.

"I don't want to say anything because I haven't talked to the police yet," Kent said.

An autopsy determined O'Leary had been dead for two to three weeks, Rock County Coroner Jenifer Keach said Wednesday. The cause of death remained under investigation, but O'Leary appeared to have died of natural causes and no foul play was suspected, the coroner said.

Chabucos-Galow said she set up the showing without knowing the homeowner's identity.

After entering the home, she noticed a faint odor but thought it was from the mess in the house or the countertop full of dishes. She saw unopened mail.

"I've smelled death. I know what death smells like," she said. "I can't believe my sinuses were that bad."

Associated Press
Published May 2, 2007

Man Gets 15 Years After Selling Fake Drugs

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 15:23:00 +0000

ST. CHARLES, Ill. - A Chicago man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for selling fake drugs while armed with a handgun. Alvin Perry, 32, was convicted in March on one count of armed violence and one count of unlawful distribution of a look-alike substance.

The Kane County State's Attorney's Office said Perry sold 100 tablets of fake ecstasy to undercover Aurora police. The tablets were later identified as baby aspirin.

Perry was sentenced Thursday. He has been in Kane County Jail since his arrest in February 2006.

Codefendants 22-year-old Termaine Hughes and 23-year-old Shevonne Allen, both of Bellwood, pleaded guilty to unlawful distribution of a look-alike substance and were sentenced to 24 months probation.

WMAQ-TV
April 27, 2007

Federal Agents Bust Fake ID Ring

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 18:10:00 +0000

Federal authorities today announced charges against 22 people in what they described as a massive fraudulent ID ring run out of a Little Village shopping plaza.

In announcing the charges, U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald said the ring's alleged leader also ordered the murder of a rival and was conspiring to commit more violent acts.

In all, 12 of those charged were in custody and 10 were fugitives, including four in Mexico, Fitzgerald said.

Most of the arrests were made in a raid Tuesday afternoon on the Little Village Discount Mall, where agents toting rifles and dressed in bulletproof vests stopped about 150 shoppers and workers.

While the raid angered many in the largely Hispanic community on Chicago's Southwest Side, Fitzgerald defended the timing and level of force used.

"We're certainly going to enforce the law against people who conspire to kill people in order to protect their organization," Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald said authorities had to catch the suspects in the act and where they operated. He said the raid had "nothing to do" with the debate over immigration or disrupting a rally planned for next month.

"These are serious matters," Fitzgerald said. "I want to make clear that there is a great debate going on in our country about the immigration situation; this case is not about that debate. Whatever your views are … you do not let people masquerade as people who they are not."

Fitzgerald said the organization spans from Chicago to other U.S. cities and to Mexico. The Chicago operation was based in the Little Village market, and was responsible for producing about 50 to 100 fraudulent documents each day, he said.

Fitzgerald said the ring was "engaged long-term in producing high-quality fraudulent IDs" including green cards, social security cards, and driver's licenses from various states. The operation brought in from $2 million to $3 million annually, according to Fitzgerald.

The alleged leader of the Chicago organization, Julio Leija-Sanchez, 31, was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, according to Fitzgerald. Authorities allege Sanchez ordered the murder of a rival in Mexico and was plotting the deaths of others who he believed had stolen equipment from his operation.

Fitzgerald said federal agents obtained a warrant earlier this year to wiretap two cell phones. The wiretaps yielded recordings of calls between Sanchez and another defendant who was in Mexico and had just carried out a murder, Fitzgerald said.

He said agents recorded a "very detailed conversation in which the person who did the killing" described firing 15 shots at the victim, and that he knew he had shot him in the liver because he "bled black blood," Fitzgerald said.

Neighborhood residents reacted strongly to Tuesday's raid, with many seeing the action as an attempt to intimidate people in advance of a planned May 1 march to Daley Plaza in protest of recent federal raids nationwide.

"They're trying to scare us," said Juan Luis Martinez, 22, a Little Village resident, predicting the action would pull more people into the streets next Tuesday. "It won't work."

Some residents acknowledged that fake documents were being produced in the community, attributing it to the desperation some illegal immigrants have to find work.

But the manner in which the action was taken—in daylight as parents walked children home from school—inflamed the community.

Baltazar Enriquez, 27, was at the mall to buy shoes after leaving his construction job when about 60 agents stormed in and shut down all the stores, he said. The agents, carrying pictures of suspects, lined up people against a wall and checked to see whether they had anyone they were looking for, Enriquez said.

But when asked about the tactics at today's news conference, Fitzgerald said it was the only way to catch the suspects in the act. He bristled when one reporter asked why authorities didn't arrest the suspects in their homes.

"You're assuming we know where everyone lives, and that's a big assumption when you're dealing with people who make fraudulent identification," Fitzgerald said.

By Jason Meisner and Antonio Olivo
Tribune staff reporters

CTA Chief Kruesi Steps Down

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 15:20:00 +0000

Chicago Transit Authority President Frank Kruesi is retiring, City Hall announced today.

Immediately after his landslide election to a sixth term in April, Daley had denied that Kruesi would be leaving his administration.

Kruesi has taken the brunt of rising public dissatisfaction with deteriorating CTA service. He has been a longtime political confidant of Daley, who appointed Kruesi as his transit czar 10 years ago to turn around the troubled transit agency.

Most recently, Kruesi has been preparing another doomsday plan of service cuts and possible fare increases that would kick in midyear if the legislature and the governor fail to provide a state bailout of transit. Daley has kept his distance from the boiling issue.

In addition, CTA employee retirement funds may run out this year.

During the recent mayoral campaign, Dorothy Brown, one of two mayoral challengers, criticized Daley for pushing "glamour projects" such as the CTA superstation at Block 37 instead of focusing CTA management on providing commuters with relief from overcrowded trains and buses.

Kruesi joined the CTA in late 1997. For the four years before that he served as an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Transportation.

By Gary Washburn

Massacre at Virginia Tech

noreply@blogger.com (B-a-r-r-y) — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 04:07:00 +0000

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- A gunman massacred 32 people at Virginia Tech in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history Monday, cutting down his victims in two attacks two hours apart before the university could grasp what was happening and warn students.

The bloodbath ended with the gunman committing suicide, bringing the death toll to 33 and stamping the campus in the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains with unspeakable tragedy, perhaps forever.

Investigators gave no motive for the attack. The gunman's name was not immediately released, and it was not known if he was a student.

"Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions," Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said. "The university is shocked and indeed horrified."

But he was also faced with difficult questions about the university's handling of the emergency and whether it did enough to warn students and protect them after the first burst of gunfire. Some students bitterly complained they got no warning from the university until an e-mail that arrived more than two hours after the first shots rang out.

Wielding two handguns and carrying multiple clips of ammunition, the killer opened fire about 7:15 a.m. on the fourth floor of West Ambler Johnston, a high-rise coed dormitory, then stormed Norris Hall, a classroom building a half-mile away on the other side of the 2,600-acre campus. Some of the doors at Norris Hall were found chained from the inside, apparently by the gunman.

Two people died in a dorm room, and 31 others were killed in Norris Hall, including the gunman, who put a bullet in his head. At least 15 people were hurt, some seriously. Students jumped from windows in panic.

Alec Calhoun, a 20-year-old junior, said he was in a 9:05 a.m. mechanics class when he and classmates heard a thunderous sound from the classroom next door -- "what sounded like an enormous hammer."

Screams followed an instant later, and the banging continued. When students realized the sounds were gunshots, Calhoun said, he started flipping over desks for hiding places. Others dashed to the windows of the second-floor classroom, kicking out the screens and jumping from the ledge of Room 204, he said.

"I must've been the eighth or ninth person who jumped, and I think I was the last," said Calhoun, of Waynesboro, Va. He landed in a bush and ran.

Calhoun said that the two students behind him were shot, but that he believed they survived. Just before he climbed out the window, Calhoun said, he turned to look at the professor, who had stayed behind, perhaps to block the door.

The instructor was killed, he said.

At an evening news conference, Police Chief Wendell Flinchum refused to dismiss the possibility that a co-conspirator or second shooter was involved. He said police had interviewed a male who was a "person of interest" in the dorm shooting who knew one of the victims, but he declined to give details.

"I'm not saying there's a gunman on the loose," Flinchum said. Ballistics tests will help explain what happened, he said.

Sheree Mixell, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the evidence was being moved to the agency's national lab in Annandale. At least one firearm was turned over, she said.

Mixell would not comment on what types of weapons were used or whether the gunman was a student.

Young people and faculty members carried out some of the wounded themselves, without waiting for ambulances to arrive. Many found themselves trapped behind chained and padlocked doors. SWAT team members with helmets, flak jackets and assault rifles swarmed over the campus. A student used his cell-phone camera to record the sound of bullets echoing through a stone building.

Trey Perkins, who was sitting in a German class in Norris Hall, told The Washington Post that the gunman barged into the room at about 9:50 a.m. and opened fire for about a minute and a half, squeezing off about 30 shots.

The gunman first shot the professor in the head and then fired on the students, Perkins said. The gunman was about 19 years old and had a "very serious but very calm look on his face," he said.

"Everyone hit the floor at that moment," said Perkins, 20, of Yorktown, Va., a sophomore studying mechanical engineering. "And the shots seemed like it lasted forever."

A 911 call for the first shooting came in at 7:15 a.m. EDT. Campus and Blacksburg police responded and found a female student and a male resident adviser, later identified as Clark, dead in a fourth-floor room at the West Ambler Johnston dormitory. The building was locked down and witnesses there led police to believe that the shooting was domestic in nature and that the shooter had left.

Flinchum said that while interviewing a "person of interest" off campus, police received another 911 call at 9:45 a.m. EDT about the shooting in Norris Hall. Flinchum said the man they were interviewing off campus was not in custody, but remained a person of interest in the earlier shooting.

He said ballistics tests on the bullets found at the scenes of the two shootings would help determine whether the shooter that killed himself was responsible for all the killings.

At the dorm where the initial shooting occurred, rumors were flying among the student residents. Several said they were told an Asian student somehow got inside the building after 7 a.m. and went up the stairs to a dorm room on the fourth floor, apparently looking for his girlfriend.

Some students said they heard popping sounds, and later found that a popular male resident adviser, Clark, 22, of Martinez, Ga., had been killed along with a female student who the students said was a roommate of the woman the man was looking for.

Police did not confirm any of the students' accounts of the shooting.

Late Monday, outside a campus building where friends and family members awaited word on the identities of the victims, Greg Bringhurst, 18, was pacing nervously. He said his dorm hall adviser, a sophomore, was missing. She would've been in class in Norris Hall at the time of the shooting.

Bringhurst said neither her parents nor her friends had heard from her.

"It's not like her," he said. "We're all getting really worried. Her parents are now on the way from New York."

Sophomore Olivia Folmar said she and her fellow students, still with little definitive information about the shooting, couldn't escape the anxiety of finding out who actually died in Norris Hall.

"Everybody is afraid to see who is on that list," she said. "More than likely, we will know somebody or know somebody of somebody who has been killed."

The carnage at Virginia Tech now supplants a 1991 killing spree in Killeen, Texas, as the country's deadliest shooting rampage. In that incident, a man drove his truck into a Luby's cafeteria and shot 23 people to death before killing himself.

Monday's carnage also marked the deadliest campus shooting in the country since 1966, when Charles Whitman opened fire on students at the University of Texas at Austin from a clock tower on campus, killing 16 people before he was shot to death by police.

President Bush, through a spokesman, offered prayers to the victims and the people of Virginia.

Classes at Virginia Tech were canceled through Tuesday and grief counselors and priests were made available to students, faculty and families.

This was the second time in less than a year that the Virginia Tech campus was closed because of a shooting.

Last August, the opening day of classes was canceled when an escaped jail inmate allegedly killed a hospital guard off campus and fled onto the university. A sheriff's deputy involved in the manhunt was killed just off campus. The accused gunman, William Morva, faces capital murder charges.

By E.A. Torriero, Jodi S. Cohen and Rex W. Huppke
Tribune staff reporters