Below are our daily picks from the Illinois blogosphere and media at large:

Flores Talks Budget
Last week, Ramsin Canon sat down with Ald. Manny Flores (1st Ward) to discuss the Daley administration's budget, which the Chicago City Council will vote on tomorrow. Listen to the audio over at Gapers Block.

The Rural Impact
The Heartland Alliance reminds us how the budget crisis in Springfield exacerbates the growing distance between where social service agencies are located and where a majority of impoverished Illinoisans live.

Keeping The Promise
David Ernesto Munar, vice president for policy and communications at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, says President Obama should commemorate World AIDS Day by urging House and Senate negotiators to end the ban against federal funding for syringe exchanges.

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