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Last year North Riverside officials received a letter from a state agency ordering the village to start paying more into its underfunded pension accounts or face a financial reckoning. The ultimatum and a shortage of cash prompted the village to consider an unusual solution — privatizing its fire department. At least five other Illinois municipalities, including Loves Park, were sent similar warnings from the Department of Insurance, underscoring the troubled state of government pension plans in Illinois and forcing the towns to search for solutions. The letters, obtained by the Tribune, detail an enforcement mechanism that will allow the department to divert sales taxes and...

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Last year North Riverside officials received a letter from a state agency ordering the village to start paying more into its underfunded pension accounts or face a financial reckoning.
The ultimatum and a shortage of cash prompted the village to consider...

Dominican University’s Graduate School of Social Work will present its annual African American and Latino Social Work Symposium on Thursday, March 20 at the Priory Campus, 7200 W. Division Street. The symposium will focus on the theme “Austerity Hurts:...

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Pat Quinn’s next move to open a potential third airport in the south suburbs is a call for private developers, air carriers and would-be tenants to gather for a forum next month with state transportation officials to create a business...

After picking two finalists for a lucrative lease of Midway Airport, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration Thursday abruptly halted its efforts to take the transportation hub private.
Emanuel spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said one group vying for the deal...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel left himself some wiggle room on trying again to privatize Midway Airport to raise money, saying today he was giving up the idea for "the foreseeable future" after recently halting the process of accepting bids to lease it. ...

Scores of union workers protested outside city buildings during lunch Tuesday, taking aim at Mayor Rahm Emanuel for what they contend is an attempt to retroactively freeze their wages after privatizing hundreds of jobs in the past couple of years.
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In a major victory for Gov. Pat Quinn, a key regional planning committee has approved his controversial proposal for a new $1.3 billion toll road that would serve primarily as a trucking corridor linking interstates in Illinois and Indiana.
The Illiana...

A tentative agreement valued at up to $100 million will be announced Monday for private investors to develop and manage the long underused Gary/Chicago International Airport and incubate businesses in the surrounding area, the Tribune has learned.
The...

A vote to undo part of Long Grove’s recently approved road-privatization ordinance failed Tuesday night, despite the presence of dozens of residents at a Village Board meeting, many of them there to protest the shift of upkeep and plowing costs to...

Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel plans to begin curbing the city's spending habits as soon as he takes office Monday.On "Day One," he will put a freeze on just about everything but paychecks and bills coming due. That will help fulfill his pledge to cut...

For seven years Monica Behnke has lived in Winchester House, one of the few government-run nursing homes left in Illinois. Its operations are mostly funded by Medicaid, with the taxpayers of Lake County making up the difference.Behnke, 79, a former Abbott...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel said today he will send layoff notices to up to 625 city employees as he tries to close a hole in the budget he inherited.
Custodians, call center operators at the city's water department and seasonal workers at the Department of...

City Hall labor unions today released a report that says Mayor Rahm Emanuel could save more than $242 million if he cut middle management, reduced the number of private contractors and improved efficiency in government.
The recommendations are a...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel will meet with airline executives today, saying he will be looking for ways for Chicago to keep its edge as a transportation center. Emanuel pointed to the Chicago presence of United Airlines, American Airlines, Boeing and electronic...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has opened the door to his City Hall office for a steady stream of investment bankers, venture capitalists and international consultants in his intense search for private solutions to some of Chicago's biggest public problems. From...

The CTA is receiving strong and enthusiastic feedback from the private sector about investing in two mega-projects along the Red and Purple lines that the transit agency could not afford to undertake on its own for many years, CTA...

A lightly edited transcript of my conversation Monday afternoon with Henry Bayer, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Council 31: ZORN: Public-sector union employees seem to be in the cross-hairs all

Plain text version of the union report to the city on efficiency (highlights mine): INTRODUCTION Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has asked the Chicago Federation of Labor (CFL), the Chicago and Cook County Building Trades Council (CCBT), and their affiliate unions.

Courtesy of WTTW-Ch. 11, here is a lightly-edited rush transcript of the segment on Chicago's antiquated garbage-pickup system seen yesterday on " Chicago Tonight" provided by WTTW-Ch. 11. See if you react as strongly as I did to 27th Ward ...

Speech to City Council (remarks as prepared) Nearly five months ago, we joined together in Millennium Park to take the oath of office. The people of Chicago gave us a mandate for change. They recognized that the status quo was ...