Monday, May 21, 2012
The Niles Park District board is honoring Joe LoVerde on his 15th anniversary with the district.
Last Tuesday, the illness of three Niles Park District commissioners caused the district to cancel its board meeting. They'll regroup Wednesday evening for the meeting, and plan to honor Joe LoVerde, executive director, on his 15th anniversary with the district, said Ray Czarnik, a commissioner. Czarnik has written a speech marking the event, which includes, "Joe, with your vast knowledge and experience in planning and construction you have allowed this district to grow to levels faster than any one of us could have imagined. You personally dedicate yourself to every project that we take on." Earlier: Ice rink opens He also gave LoVerde, who is also a Village of Niles trustee, credit for taking over a park district with a low credit …
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Illinois lawmakers are again looking to expand gambling options in Illinois.
Illinois lawmakers are considering plans to add more casinos as the state continues to grapple with budget woes. The latest proposals would place casinos in Danville, Rockford and Waukegan. Another proposal would allow for slot machines to be operated at race tracks like Arlington Park, the Alton Daily News reported. The bills are sponsored by Terry Link (D-Waukegan) in the Senate and Lou Lang (D-Skokie) in the House. Gov. Pat Quinn has called the legislation to, once again, expand gambling in Illinois "a distraction." Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been pushing for a Chicago casino. A Chicago casino is something that officials in the city long have sought. As far back at 1993, Mayor Daley proposed an $800 …
Thursday, May 17, 2012
The NIles Library is working to see if employees could park at Culver School, thus freeing up more spaces for library patrons.
The state legislature is considering a bill that would divert money from suburban governments and school districts in order to pay teachers' pensions, municipalities say.
The village of Morton Grove stands to lose $1.3 million under a bill the Illinois House could vote on soon. The Northwest Municipal Conference, a coalition of many north and northwest suburban governments, warned its members yesterday that a bill that would cut state funding to municipalities, school districts, library districts and park districts could be considered as early as Wednesday. By midafternoon, however, it sent out notice the bill would not be considered Wednesday, but it could be called soon. Earlier: School District 67 makes cuts due to funding shortage State legislators need money to cover funding shortages for teachers' pensions in the Teachers Retirement System, according to the NMC, and they're looking to see if they …
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Evanston Congresswoman calls Dold’s recent proposal on women’s health a political ploy. He accuses her of partisanship.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston) accused Rep. Robert Dold (R-Kenilworth) Tuesday of introducing legislation merely to cast himself as a political moderate, while Dold replied Schakowsky is unwilling to act in a bipartisan fashion. Schakowsky made her remarks during a telephone news conference Tuesday with Deerfield management consultant Brad Schneider, Dold’s Democratic opponent in the Nov. 6 general election, to explain why Dold’s record on women’s issues is unsatisfactory. Earlier: Dold Proposal Would Help Women’s Health Schakowsky was particularly critical of a bill Dold introduced last week prohibiting discrimination against health care providers participating in certain government programs from excluding services like contraception …
Sunday, May 13, 2012
President Barack Obama said that he supported gay marriage this week, while Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said he believes marriage should be between a man and a woman.
Gay marriage came to the forefront of the 2012 presidential campaign this week. President Barack Obama said on ABC's Good Morning America that he personally supported gay marriage. "You know, Malia and Sasha, they have friends whose parents are same-sex couples. There have been times where Michelle and I have been sitting around the dinner table and we’re talking about their friends and their parents and Malia and Sasha, it wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently," Obama said in the interview with ABC. Obama's support for gay marriage came one day after North Carolina passed an amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, the Huffington Post Reported. Republican …
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Schneider likes the policy behind the legislation but questions the Congressman’s motivation.
Federal legislation to protect women’s health was introduced Wednesday by Rep. Robert Dold (R-Kenilworth) prohibiting discrimination against health care providers participating in certain government programs from excluding services like contraception from coverage. Specifically, Dold wants to prevent institutions like hospitals and clinics participating in Title X from allowing some services and denying others. Title X was passed in 1970 providing preventive care to low income women. “This legislation is needed and timely,” Dold said. “We have seen in Congress and several states attempts to block funds to Title X participants. For over 40 years, Title X has provided access to contraception and health education to women.” He added that more…
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Senator releases video thanking citizens and showing his rehab effort.
Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Highland Park) released a video Tuesday thanking the citizens of Illinois in his own voice for their support during his rehabilitation from a stroke suffered Jan. 21 and three resulting surgeries. Kirk left the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago Friday to continue his recovery from the stroke at the home of family members. Earlier: Kirk Heads Home From Rehab Center “I want to thank everyone especially for the patience they have given me to recover from a big stroke," said Kirk. "(And also) to the people of Illinois for granting me the honor to represent them in the United States Senate. I cannot wait to get back to work to vote to spend less, borrow less and tax less to fix our economy." Kirk made it clear in the video …
Monday, May 7, 2012
Schools had feared they would lose money, but village will likely raise sales tax in that area and funnel the revenue to them.
A plan to redevelop the Dempster Street and Waukegan Road area surmounted a key hurdle Thursday. Some had feared local school districts would lose income under the proposal for a TIF district. However, local taxing bodies, including District 67, District 70, District 219 and the Morton Grove Library voted 4-1 to approve the plan after a way was found to provide them some revenue. The Morton Grove Park District voted against it. Basically, those taxing bodies entered into a revenue-sharing agreement to receive a portion of revenues from a sales tax hike. "It's a TIF District, and now we're going to layer over it a business district," said Ryan Horne, Morton Grove's village administrator. Earlier: Dempster-Waukegan plan moves forward Both…
Congresswoman stresses the power of women voters in the 2012 elections at political event.
More than 1,500 women and a long list of elected officials attended U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky's Ultimate Women's Power Lunch Friday at the Hilton Chicago. The 9th District Democrat, whose district includes much of the northern suburbs, held the event to mobiize women for the upcoming fall election. The elected officials attending included Governor Pat Quinn, Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle and Democratic Congressional candidates Tammy Duckworth, Brad Schneider, Cheri Bustos, Bill Foster, David Gill, Dennis Anderson and Leslie Coolidge. In introducing the seven Democratic candidates for Congress in Illinois, Schakowsky said, "Illinois is ground-zero for putting the Speaker's gavel back in the hand of Nancy Pelosi. We have many great …
Craig Apelbaum
10:25 pm on Sunday, May 20, 2012
Yes. Chicago, Illinois should have casinos because it brings money into ytheir economy. more ›