-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Detroit is bankrupt, the pension fund is short, benefits are being cut and one of the pension system’s members is suing their actuarial firm, contending it used faulty methods and assumptions that “doomed the plan to financial ruin.” Expect these kinds of lawsuits in Illinois if there is no real pension reform.
By: Mark Glennon* The State of Illinois on Monday proudly announced it had succeeded in bringing Cronus Chemical Company into the state to build a new fertilizer plant. Cronus will get $52 million in various incentives from the state, according to the Associated Press and other sources. When operational, the plant will employ 175 full-time people at the plant, and another 25 full-time office jobs will come to Chicago. Construction of the plant also will employ about 1,000, but those jobs are temporary and matter much less. That’s $52 million for 200 permanent jobs comes to
Confronting a deficit totaling millions of dollars, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago will shutter seven grade schools and merge or consolidate six more by next school year. http://wgnradio.com/2014/10/29/chicago-archdiocese-to-close-7-grade-schools-merge-or-consolidate-6-others/
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2014-10-29/cronus-arrival-comes-cost-52-million.html
http://www.illinoispolicy.org/illinois-food-stamps-hits-2014-high/?utm_source=Illinois Policy: Opens&utm_campaign=d7ef65d6d5-utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9471dd8540-d7ef65d6d5-13002509
http://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2014/10/28/michael-ferro-to-launch-sun-times-network-on.html?page=all
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/minimum-wage-2014-elections-112240.html GOP candidates can’t always make the issue go away by switching sides. Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/minimum-wage-2014-elections-112240.html#ixzz3HXhFkfeM
The city is currently owed more than $981,000 in unpaid fines, the majority of them from parking tickets. http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/27150578/park-ridge-owed-nearly-1-million-in-unpaid-fines
This year the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office became the first arm of Chicago-area government to actually list where the bodies are buried. http://www.wbez.org/news/cook-county-posting-indigent-burials-virtual-cemetery-111002
Earlier this month, Inspector General Joe Ferguson faulted the Chicago Department of Transportation for exercising “benign neglect” in its oversight of a red-light camera contractor at the center of a bribery scandal, allowing both suspicious ticketing spikes and equipment failures that may have cost the city millions to go unnoticed. http://politics.suntimes.com/article/chicago/emanuel-wont-offer-refunds-disputed-red-light-tickets/tue-10282014-446pm
While there are other detractors around the proposed 47-mile road south of Chicago into Indiana, Paul Fisher’s distaste for the project is notable since the real estate executive was an early advocate for building it. http://www.rebootillinois.com/2014/10/29/editors-picks/bettergov/early-illiana-expressway-supporter-reverses-opinion-one-will-use/28085/
The ordinance would continue to slap landlords who endanger tenants by thumbing their noses at the detector requirements with fines ranging from $200-to-$500-a-day. http://politics.suntimes.com/article/chicago/aldermen-close-dangerous-loophole-smoke-detector-ordinance/tue-10282014-1143am#bmb=1
The race has been brutal, even for Illinois. Although it is a blue state and the home of Barack Obama, the polls are tied. http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2014/10/illinois-s-governor-race
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20141029/BLOGS10/141029770?template=mobile&X-IgnoreUserAgent=1
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER