* DuPage prosecutor asked to probe election official’s tie to vendor

* Race for Rahm’s seat is a real scramble

There is such a large field of candidates — 19 by one count — that it’s almost a team roster. On the list are power hitters like Quigley and Feigenholtz and promising rookies like Oberman.

But to truly appreciate the quest for Rahmbo’s coveted seat, we must begin, in classic Chicago style, at the Zam Zam Banquet Hall on the Northwest Side. That’s where, on Saturday, 19 Democratic ward and township committeemen arranged themselves, according to the Chicago Sun-Times’ Abdon Pallasch, at a two-tiered head table, like a wedding where the bridesmaids wear ruffled peach chiffon.

* Cook County hikes lawsuit-filing fee

* Cook County Board begins laborious cost-cutting

Faced with stiff opposition to borrowing $700 million through bonds for the 2009 budget year after a $380 million increase last year in the sales tax, the Cook County Board took baby steps Tuesday to paring back their borrowing tab.

* CN must work with Metra on commuter projects

* House unanimous in approving spending for coal-gasification plant

The Illinois House on Monday approved a supplemental spending bill that will help build a coal-gasification plant near Taylorville and keep Illinois from getting into trouble with Washington.

The House OK’d Senate Bill 2513 on a 113-0 vote. It now goes to the Senate, which must also approve it. Impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich would have to sign it for it to take effect.

The bill puts more than $9 million back into restricted state accounts that are used for various wildlife programs. State lawmakers last year opted to raid those funds to help balance the budget. However, federal officials said those funds use federal as well as state dollars and that the state is not allowed to divert the money for other uses. Federal officials said the state would have to pay a $17 million penalty if the money wasn’t restored.

* Hospitals settle overbilling suit

* Hospital lawsuit settlement may help tens of thousands of uninsured patients

In a move with far-reaching effects on people without health insurance, two large Illinois hospital systems have agreed to settle lawsuits alleging they overcharged tens of thousands of uninsured patients and provided inadequate financial assistance.

As part of the agreements, Resurrection Health Care and Advocate Health Care are offering to recalculate patients’ bills and give refunds to needy patients eligible for free or discounted medical care.

Resurrection also will extend a discount of 25 percent to anyone who is uninsured, regardless of income—a move thought to be unprecedented in Illinois.

Resurrection owns eight hospitals in the Chicago area and is the state’s largest chain of Catholic medical centers. A Cook County circuit judge approved its settlement Monday.

* School Closings: A Community Reacts

The past few days have been tough for Chicago parents, teachers and students who are learning that their schools will be closed down, phased out, or re-staffed. CPS will announce its official list of school closures in the coming days. But a tentative list of schools was leaked late last week. Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary was one of 25 schools named.

* Inexcusable delay in charter school probe

Alleged school misconduct doesn’t get much more serious than this.

• • Three high school girls are taken into a washroom by an off-duty Chicago cop, told to drop their pants, squat and cough — in a vain search for a cigarette lighter.

• • Student grades are changed, including Fs to Ds.

• • Dozens of student absences disappear from report cards.

These charges were leveled against a Chicago public charter school, according to a story by Rosalind Rossi in last week’s Sun-Times. Ultimately, two administrators and the police officer, who was acting as a school security guard, were disciplined and left the school.

But it took far too long for Chicago Public Schools officials to investigate the allegations, raised by a teacher at Aspira Early College Charter High School.

There is no excuse for the delay, especially given the gravity of the charges.

* Chicago to use new property tax revenue for its 2016 Olympics bid

Without a single word of debate, aldermen voted Tuesday to use new property tax revenue for Chicago’s 2016 Olympics bid and guaranteed the city would cover additional police patrols, street cleaning and other services for the Summer Games.

Before the vote, Ald. Edward Burke (14th) expressed surprise that none of his council colleagues wished to add their input on the topic.

“Like the good old Peggy Lee song, Is that all there is?” Burke said.

The measure commits the city to using an unspecified amount of tax-increment financing dollars to subsidize infrastructure improvements at the Near South Side site of what would be the Olympic Village.

* Schock appointed to transportation committee

18th District congressman Aaron Schock has been appointed to the transportation committee and the republican whip team, something unusual for a freshman.

The transportation committee has jurisdiction over the nation’s highways, bridges, and aviation systems.

The committee is expected to play a critical role as President-elect Barack Obama roles out his national stimulus plan and Schock says he’s ready to use his assignment to help people in the heart of Illinois.