* Morgan Stanley issues full U.S. recession alert
* Countrywide Financial under IL probe, NY Times reports; more here
* Sun-Times media shareholder demands cost cuts
* Ditka defends charity but dissolves it
* Sun-Times Editorial: Ditka should have kept better on eye on charity
Ditka should have raised questions at the large disparity between the money his fund spent on three celebrity golf tournaments, costing $715,000, according to USA Today, and the charity his fund gave to ex-players.
“Not enough, probably, was given out,” admits Ditka, stating that $159,000 was the actual amount of the payouts, including a sizable sum to Misericordia, the local facility for children with developmental disabilities. One reason his fund didn’t give more money to ex-players, said a person involved in the trust who requested anonymity, was the unexpected difficulty of getting proud or mentally ill ex-players to apply for aid.
* Davlin says Springfield property tax may go up
Davlin blames the legislature, which has boosted — while not providing the money — firefighter pension and death benefits four times since 1999.
The council has no control over the pension benefits given to cops and firefighters, but local governments must provide the annual payment from property tax revenue. Actuaries determine the city’s pension payments, estimating what rate of return the systems will get on their investments.
* CHA proposing adult residents work 20 hours or face eviction
* Clout City: Right to work
City and negotiators for 33 trade unions representing 7,800 city employees recently hashed out a deal on pay and benefits for the next 10 years. Some critics have charged that the Daley administration gave away too much–pay will increase by 16 percent over the next five years alone–in the interest of ensuring labor peace during the possible buildup to the 2016 Olympics. Others, including many of the council’s black aldermen, have long howled that the trades shouldn’t get sweet city deals when they can’t be bothered to improve recruitment outside old white ethnic circles. Former alderman and current Cook County commissioner William Beavers summed up this view during last year’s Big Box minimum-wage debate: Unions, he said, “don’t do nothing for us in the construction industry.”
* Cook officials told to brace for cuts
* Stroger’s sales tax increase plan dies
* Tribune Editorial: The power of taxpayers
* Durbin seeks probe of air controller fatigue and runway safety at O’Hare; more here
* FutureGen developers plan site announcement on Tuesday, despite DOE ’slow down’ advice; more here
“What’s going on at DOE behind the curtain, I’m not sure,” Sheehan said.
“We do intend to move forward on December 18th as planned,” she said, adding the developers believe the DOE has plenty of time to finalize its record of decision. “We do feel collectively that we owe this (announcement) to the states of Texas and Illinois.”
The site announcement, initially due in September, has been delayed several times.
FutureGen’s developers say the coal-fired plant would emit almost no carbon dioxide, trapping the greenhouse gas and storing it underground. The plant is intended to be a prototype, experimenting with the technology so it can be used in future power plants.
* Two states, one big coal windfall
* IL school chiefs’ pay on sharp curve up
School superintendents’ average pay in Illinois climbed 23 percent in the last five years, a jump experts said reflects an increasingly competitive market and a number of retirees with big end-of-career raises.
* JCAR to vote later on smoking ban
“The law supercedes the rules,” Kimberly Parker, a state Department of Public Health spokeswoman, said Wednesday. “The law goes into effect as announced.”
* Russ Stewart: Madigan’s Misery, to quit or fight in 2010?
A new scenario is germinating: Lisa Madigan could run for the Illinois Supreme Court in 2010, when the terms of 1st District (Cook County) Justices Charles Freeman and Thomas Fitzgerald expire; if one or both retire, she would easily win a Democratic primary. And, if a Democrat occupies the White House, Lisa Madigan would be on a short list of potential U.S. Supreme Court appointees. In Illinois, Mike Madigan would back state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias in the primary against Blagojevich, and state Comptroller Dan Hynes would run for Lisa’s spot as attorney general.
* Oberweis to get Hastert endorsement; more here and here
* McQueary: Congressional candidate takes campaign to high school
* 18th CD candidates on tightening of immigration
* WurfWhile: SEIU endorsement gives Foster support, hurts Laesch