Morning Shorts
Thursday, Jan 15, 2009 - Posted by Mike Murray
* Burris Saga Ends Today
Illinois will get a second U.S. senator Thursday. After a prolonged fight for the job, Roland Burris will be sworn in to the Senate this afternoon.
* As Burris prepares for senate seat, his hometown of Centralia looks beyond scandal and smiles
* Senate appointment process deserves to be questioned … over and over
* Former workers at Republic Windows and Doors heartened by possible sale of Goose Island factory
A month after Republic Windows and Doors workers won a rare labor victory after a six-day sit-in at their shuttered Chicago plant, former workers held their breath Wednesday in hope of an even bigger achievement.
Against long odds created by a staggering economy and a plunging housing market, a potential buyer for the factory had been found, one that promised to reopen the Goose Island plant and eventually offer new jobs to the more than 300 workers left unemployed by the plant’s abrupt closing.
The deal was not yet done, cautioned the union and Serious Materials, the California building materials company that has made the offer. But the potential outcome—a reopened factory in a time when millions are out of work—was far beyond what the workers could have imagined when they began their occupation of the factory last month.
* Motorola Cuts More Jobs
Motorola is announcing a new round of job cuts. The Schaumburg-based company expects to immediately eliminate about 4,000 positions
* Urban Renewal Redux in Bronzeville
* Study finds U of I a $13 billion economic engine
* Cook County officials in south suburbs seek ways to fight rise in juvenile crime
Last spring, Cook County prosecutors began noticing that juvenile cases took two months to get to the Markham Courthouse. Typically, it took three weeks.
Today, as a result of a significant jump in juvenile cases, it takes four months. […]
Juvenile crime is down in Chicago, but the south suburbs have seen an explosion, law-enforcement officials said. In September, the Markham Courthouse had 218 juvenile cases. In comparison, all four other suburban Cook County courthouses—Bridgeview, Maywood, Skokie and Rolling Meadows—saw 8 to 21 cases.
* Juvie Courts Overwhelmed in the South Suburbs
* O’Hare demolitions delayed again
An injunction prohibiting the demolition of more than 600 Bensenville buildings in the path of a new O’Hare International Airport runway is back in effect after an Illinois Appellate Court ordered a DuPage County judge to deal further with the question of environmental issues raised by the planned demolition.
* CTA ridership rises, but budget worries persist
* Lincoln Park Zoo cutting programs and staff
Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo is cutting cut more than $1 million from its $21 million annual budget, which means cuts in programs and elimination of staff positions.
* Expediter charged in Chicago City Hall bribery probe
Federal prosecutors have quietly brought charges against a City Hall permit “expediter” who became a government mole at the center of a wide-ranging bribery probe.
* Cook Forest Preserve District agrees to let hiring monitor watch for illegal patronage
- Princess - Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 9:14 am:
psst, Mike, the news headlines off to the right that usually change regurally all day have not changed since like two days. Are they not working? I miss my updated headlines.
- Princess - Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 9:17 am:
looks like Rich posted on the headline thing, I must have been posting while he did. Hope they get it worked out.
- Blago Sphere - Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 9:29 am:
Rich,
You should look into the technology being employed by the Philadelphia Inquirer, and their live blogging of the political corruption trial of State Senator Vince Fumo; which started in October and is still ongoing now. The prosecution will probably rest this week.
I have monitored this live in the past, and been able to communicate directly with the reporter in the courtroom in real time via a system IM feature.
You should see that indictment:
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:oL9suvWSB6kJ:inquirer.philly.com/rss/News/2007fumoindictment.pdf+Fumo+Indictment&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
He makes Blago look like a piker in comparison.
- Blago Sphere - Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 9:39 am:
Actually I just looked and court is in session, and they are live blogging the trail on their system right now if you ant to have a look:
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-breaking/37634749.html
- vole - Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 9:39 am:
Maybe as part of the economic stimulus, Burris can have the feds build a replica of his mausoleum with updated engravings built in Centralia. God knows they need something in their depression setting. The World Trap and Skeet Shooting Complex has stimulated the S.IL economy SO MUCH!
- Amy - Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 9:46 am:
south suburban officials must check to share information on contacts juveniles have with the police. in Chicago kids get station adjustments. how many station adjustments happen before first court referral is an issue. a first police contact program is good for referrals to programs as suggested in the article. i’m not talking about a warning from the police to move away from somewhere, but an act that would, in an adult situation, lead to an arrest. too many passes from the police and kids learn that they can get away with things. better they learn early that an act has some actual reaction. crime is crime, victims are victims, even if the act is done by a juvenile.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 9:54 am:
My favorite memory of Centralia is the Hollywood Candy Co., which made the “Zero” candy bar for which my uncle was nicknamed. They also made the “Butter Nut” and “Pay Day” bars. Roland Burris is our new Candy Man.
- walkinmyshoes - Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 4:00 pm:
Amy - the problem with the Juvenile Court system - in this particular case Markham is that these kids are getting pass after pass from these Judges. They are given a slap on the wrist and told not to come to court again. They come to court again, slap on the wrist again and the cycle continues. I have a juvenile that was presented to the same judge 27 times for criminal contact ranging fromn the petty to burglary and was finally sent to the juvenile justice department as a court evaluation. Once again, although sent to the juvenile justice facility, the juvenile was still not “convicted” of any of his 27 crimes and his entire record was wiped clean. This was done despite the fact that the juvenile was given a negative court evaluation from the juvenile justice department. These juveniles know that they are going to get away with things as the current trend due to the advocacy of juvenile justice is not to have the juvenile understand there is a consequence for negative behavior and that consequence is not positive. You are right a crime is a crime, a victim is a victim and a consequence to committing a crime should not be chance after chance after chance without any change from the criminal.
- Amy - Thursday, Jan 15, 09 @ 4:36 pm:
walkinmyshoes:
wow, it’s even worse than I thought. combine stupid judicial
decisions with too many station adjustments and you get a crime increase. too many Bernardine Dohrn soft on juvenile
crime types in Illinois! keep at it, walkinmyshoes. thanks for the
work.