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PI Original
by Matthew Blake
7:14pm
Wed Feb 22

Quinn's Budget Calls For Mass Closures Of Health Care, Prison Facilities

Politics

Gov. Pat Quinn proposed closing 63 state facilities in his annual budget address today to the Illinois General Assembly, which will result in 2,397 layoffs if passed by the legislature.

PI Original
by Michael Piskur
1:06pm
Wed Feb 22

Legislators Balk As House Transportation Bill Threatens Local Transit Funding, Projects

Transportation

A surface transportation bill written by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives would cut funding for Illinois, calling for drastic reductions in mass transit allocations and the elimination of popular and effective bike and pedestrian safety programs. The controversial bill is facing an uphill battle, according to some legislators from Illinois.

Quick Hit
by Brandon Campbell
9:56am
Wed Feb 22

Chicagoans Call On Quinn to Close Corporate Tax Loopholes (VIDEO)

With Governor Pat Quinn expected to address Illinois’ nearly $8 billion in unpaid bills during his annual budget speech today, some Chicagoans are calling on him to close three corporate tax loopholes.

A group of about 50 protestors belonging to Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation and other organizations gathered outside the State of Illinois building Tuesday afternoon to deliver a new fiscal policy report to the governor’s office.

“In the tradition of Carnival, today is called Fat Tuesday and tomorrow is Ash Wednesday,” Rev. Marilyn Pagán-Banks, a member of Northside P.O.W.E.R., said at the protest. “Today we are calling on Illinois’ fat cats, these corporate persons, to get their greed out of their system so that tomorrow they can repent.”
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Quick Hit
by Matthew Blake
5:58pm
Tue Feb 21

City Council Members Blast School Closings, Turnarounds

A handful of City Council members – mostly from the council’s black caucus -- voiced confusion and concern to Chicago Public Schools officials today during a hearing for proposed school closings the Chicago Board of Education is set to approve tomorrow. 

“Lack of communication has been a historic fault of CPS,” said Ald. Anthony Beale (9th). Read more »

Quick Hit
by Matthew Blake
3:12pm
Tue Feb 21

Deadline Imposed In Negotiations Over Chicago Coal Plant Emissions

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Midwest Generation, owner of the Fisk and Crawford coal-fired power plants on the city’s Southwest Side, have given themselves a February 29 deadline to negotiate a settlement over the plants, according to Ald. Danny Solis (25th) at a City Hall press conference today.

There could finally be a resolution in the battle over the decades-long air pollution problem in the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods that often left residents wondering if government would ever respond to the dangerous, even deadly, levels of both greenhouse gas and soot emissions at the plants.

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