Clout St

Birkett to run for attorney general, not governor

Newsdesk — 2009-07-02T19:09:49-05:00

Posted by Rick Pearson at 7:10 p.m. After spending more than a year as a featured speaker at Republican events throughout Illinois, DuPage County State’s Atty. Joe Birkett has decided to forego a run for governor and instead will seek...

Quinn meets with women lawmakers as budget stalemate lingers

Newsdesk — 2009-07-02T16:30:36-05:00

Posted by Monique Garcia at 4:30 p.m. It's the second day of the state's new budget year and rookie Gov. Pat Quinn and state lawmakers can't agree on a spending plan. So today they're starting with the basics---trying to agree...

Which aldermen are backing Olympics liability limit ordinance?

Newsdesk — 2009-07-02T10:15:46-05:00

Posted by Dan Mihalopoulos at 10:15 a.m.; updated at 1:02 p.m. to add Ald. Cochran Earlier this week, Ald. Manuel Flores (1st) introduced an ordinance to cap the city's liability for 2016 Olympics losses at $500 million. It was a...

Aldermen grilling parking meter executives, city officials

Newsdesk — 2009-07-02T09:28:42-05:00

Posted by Dan Mihalopoulos at 9:27 a.m.; last updated at 2:25 p.m. Seven months after they quickly approved a deal to lease the city's parking meter, aldermen today are questioning the agreement at a City Council hearing. Many council members...

Quinn vetoes part of state budget

Newsdesk — 2009-07-01T13:02:09-05:00

Posted by Ray Long and Rick Pearson at 1:02 p.m.; updated at 2:10 p.m. SPRINGFIELD---Gov. Pat Quinn today vetoed a portion of the state budget dealing with social services, saying he "had no choice" and that this is a "fight...

Union leaders say no deals with Daley yet as layoffs loom

Newsdesk — 2009-07-01T10:52:45-05:00

Posted by Dan P. Blake and Dan Mihalopoulos at 10:53 a.m.; updated at 1:13 p.m. Three major labor unions representing city workers aren't on board as City Hall tries to negotiate concessions to help address a budget shortfall. So Mayor...

Chicago pays $915 per body for morgue transport; alderman says that's too much

Newsdesk — 2009-07-01T07:00:00-05:00

Posted by Hal Dardick at 7 a.m. An influential alderman is arguing that Chicago pays far too much to transport bodies to the morgue, but the attorney for the company that does the work says it must charge that much...

Quinn scolds lawmakers but they fail to approve more money

Newsdesk — 2009-06-30T20:35:00-05:00

Posted by Monique Garcia at 10:25 a.m.; last updated at 8:32 p.m. SPRINGFIELD---Gov. Pat Quinn this afternoon scolded state lawmakers, saying he will veto any state budget that doesn't provide enough money to keep social services going. "If this General...

Alderman wants to expand peddler ban around Wrigley Field

Newsdesk — 2009-06-30T13:58:34-05:00

Posted by Dan Mihalopoulos and Dan P. Blake at 1:55 p.m.; updated at 5:21 p.m. with statements from Tunney, Cubs Peddlers would be banned from sidewalks in a two-block area around Wrigley Field under a proposal introduced at today's City...

Aldermen approve 15 unpaid days off for city workers to cut costs

Newsdesk — 2009-06-30T13:48:02-05:00

Posted by Dan Mihalopoulos at 1:47 p.m. Non-union city workers will have to take 15 unpaid days off before the end of the year after the Chicago City Council today overwhelmingly approved Mayor Richard Daley's budget-cutting move. The 42-6 vote...

Aldermen want city park district boss to explain end of free parking

Newsdesk — 2009-06-30T12:39:44-05:00

Posted by Dan Mihalopoulos at 12:39 p.m.; updated at 3:45 p.m. with Daley reaction Aldermen want Mayor Richard Daley's parks boss to appear before them to explain why the Chicago Park District is installing pay boxes at what had been...

Property assessment shows Chicago's first drop in median home values

Newsdesk — 2009-06-30T11:45:28-05:00

Posted by Hal Dardick at 11:44 a.m. For the first time in recent memory, the median values of residential property in a Chicago neighborhood have dropped, according to the Cook County assessor’s office. Assessment notices for Rogers Park Township residential...

House OKs $2.2 billion in borrowing to free up social service funds

Newsdesk — 2009-06-29T18:57:43-05:00

Posted by Rick Pearson and Ray Long at 6:56 p.m. SPRINGIELD--The Illinois House approved a plan today aimed at scaling back potential cuts in social services with more than $2.2 billion in short-term borrowing for public pensions. But even supporters...

Daley's HR commissioner fires back at critical report

Newsdesk — 2009-06-29T17:21:11-05:00

Posted by Dan Mihalopoulos at 5:20 p.m. Mayor Richard Daley’s Human Resources commissioner, Homero Tristan, fired back at allegations from Inspector General David Hoffman, who last week called for Daley to fire Tristan. In a letter obtained by the Tribune...

City watchdog urges more light on Chicago Olympic bid

Newsdesk — 2009-06-29T16:20:24-05:00

Posted by Dan Mihalopoulos and Dan P. Blake at 4:20 p.m. City Hall’s top internal investigator today urged more openness and public hearings in Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Speaking to the City Club, Inspector General David Hoffman...

Daley replaces his Streets and Sanitation boss

Newsdesk — 2009-06-29T13:51:47-05:00

Posted by Dan P. Blake at 1:50 p.m. Mayor Richard Daley today demoted his Streets and Sanitation commissioner and replaced him with a troubleshooter from another department. Michael Picardi will return to his old job running the Fleet Management department...

DuPage County chief Schillerstrom kicks off Republican governor campaign

Newsdesk — 2009-06-28T16:31:30-05:00

Posted by Rick Pearson at 4:30 p.m. DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom today formally launched his campaign for the Republican governor nomination, delivering a parochial pitch to bring his county's quality of life to the rest of Illinois by...

Quinn: 'Only way to be honest' on budget is tax hike

Newsdesk — 2009-06-28T14:01:39-05:00

Posted by Monique Garcia at 2:01 p.m. Lawmakers will return to Springfield tomorrow as a budget deadline looms and today Gov. Pat Quinn "the only way to be honest" about balancing the budget is to raise taxes. Quinn, who has...

Chicago inspector general wants Daley to fire HR commissioner

Newsdesk — 2009-06-26T17:11:27-05:00

Posted by Todd Lighty at 5:10 p.m.; updated at 7:17 p.m. with report Mayor Richard Daley’s personnel chief allegedly lied during an investigation of City Hall hiring abuses and should be fired, the city’s inspector general recommended today. Homero Tristan...

Mayor Richard Daley Q and A on Olympics guarantee

Newsdesk — 2009-06-26T16:51:32-05:00

Posted by Dan P. Blake at 4:55 p.m. Mayor Richard Daley today spoke locally for the first time about his controversial comments in Switzerland last week about the city's financial guarantees should Chicago land the 2016 Olympics. Lori Healey, a...