* Investigators raid home, office of Cook County regional schools superintendent
Investigators raided the home and office of the Cook County regional schools superintendent Wednesday, carting out laptop computers, cell phones and boxes of files, sources said.
* Offices raided of Cook schools superintendent
Law enforcement officials seized computers, hard drives and documents from the agency’s Westchester office, ABC 7 reported.
Cook County Commissioners were due to consider resolutions calling on Flowers to resign and asking the state to abolish the office altogether.
Cook County prosecutors confirm Flowers is under investigation, but said he has not been charged.
* Bank forecloses on home of indicted Blagojevich pal
The man unlucky enough to get indicted three times because of his dealings with Rod Blagojevich just got unluckier.
A bank on Tuesday moved to foreclose on the home of Christopher G. Kelly, a longtime Blagojevich buddy, adviser and fund-raiser.
Old Second National Bank filed a $2.1 million foreclosure notice on Kelly’s Burr Ridge home.
* ‘Runaway greed’ gets doc 18 months
Dr. Robert Weinstein was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison. The name means nothing to most of you, I realize, which is a shame, because you sure know a lot about his longtime partner, Stuart Levine, the crook who brought down the Blagojevich administration.
Weinstein was Levine’s partner in business and partner in crime, although there’s nothing to indicate they made a distinction between the two.
At the Tony Rezko trial, Levine testified that he and Weinstein shared the proceeds from everything they did, including his shady deals, and unlike Rezko, there was plenty of tape-recorded evidence with Weinstein’s own voice to prove that was the case.
The wiretapped phone conversations between Levine and Weinstein provided some of the most eye-opening moments of the Rezko trial as Levine bragged about his schemes to arrange secret kickbacks from companies seeking to do business with state boards on which he sat — and secretly controlled.
* ‘Illegal’ high-rise hotels targeted
At this week’s City Council meeting, Reilly introduced an ordinance that would rein in so-called “nightly vacation rentals.”
It would allow condos to be turned into hotel suites only if owners get prior approval from the condo association, secure at least $1 million in liability insurance and obtain a two-year “vacation rental license” for a $500 fee.
The city’s 3.5 percent hotel tax would have to be tacked on to the nightly rental fee. No unit could be rented for fewer than 10 straight hours.
* CPS axes 557, with more layoffs ahead
* 3 city unions holding out on deal to avert layoffs
Three hold-out unions with 650 layoffs hanging in the balance —Teamster 726, Laborers 1001 and AFSMCE Council 31—are standing in the way of a two-year deal on cost-cutting concessions to save the jobs of 1,504 city of Chicago employees targeted for layoffs.
Mayor Daley refused today to say what he would do if the unions don’t get on board by the July 15 deadline.
“The city must take the appropriate action on the 15th,” Daley said at a City Hall news conference. “We think, in the long run, on the 15th, all of ‘em will be there. I firmly believe that. I pray for it. I hope they are…because this will not be good for their membership.”
* Some Chicago Unions Say No More Talk of Furloughs
The deal would require union workers to take unpaid days off. But a few of the unions working with the city say they won’t accept the plan. Ken Brantley is the vice president of Teamsters Local 726. He says his members are done negotiating.
BRANTLEY: Over the years they’ve gave up enough. They’re tired of giving back and nothing is being given to us. The mayor wants everything, it’s not just the furlough days.
Laborers’ Local 1001 and AFSCME are the other two unions that won’t agree to the plan. In a statement, AFSCME says its members are among the lowest-paid city workers. Labor leaders say all the unions working with the city have to accept the terms before the plan is implemented. Mayor Richard Daley says unions have until July 15 to reach an agreement before more than 1500 workers are laid off.
* Chicago pays $915 per body for morgue transport; alderman says that’s too much
* Charters not only way to fix Chicago schools
* 467K jobs cut in June; jobless rate at 9.5 percent
* Recession might be bottoming out, but recovery still likely slow
* Midway sale to Warner Bros. approved by court
The $33-million deal brings to a close the recent financial woes of the Chicago-based video-game maker. Midway Games filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February not long after media mogul Sumner Redstone sold his majority stake in the firm. Midway had warned in November that the change in control would allow bondholders of $150 million in debt the right to call their notes. The company did not have the money to pay the entire debt.
Midway Games has been saddled with annual losses since 2000 as it has been unable to develop a sought-after game following its “Mortal Kombat” blockbuster.
* Average gas price inches down to $2.84
* United computer glitch causing delays at O’Hare
* IDOT to makes holiday travel a bit easier
IDOT says it is suspending some construction-related lane closures around the state starting Thursday at 3 p.m. until midnight on Sunday July 5.
* Facing foreclosure, Curry sues ex-aide
* Mentally disabled in housing fight
* Illinois ranks 10th in nation in rate of overweight and obese children
* Ill. agency begins replenishing Rock River
An Illinois agency has begun recovery efforts at Rock River, where tens of thousands of fish suddenly died on the same weekend as an explosive train derailment in northern Illinois.
* Illinois Supreme Court adopts new rules for lawyers
And court officials say the new rules bring the regulation of lawyers into the 21st century, specifically issuing guidelines for new technology including e-mail, Web sites and cell phones.
Among other things, the new rules also make it easier for lawyers to perform pro bono legal services, and they redefine the standards for client confidentiality.
* Theft of 5,000 pounds of commercial-grade fireworks worries cops
A five-inch mortar shell — one of the most common items taken — is powerful enough to kill someone if it detonates nearby and could even destroy a car if it blows up while being transported, DuPage County Sheriff’s Department officials said Wednesday.
* Crestwood water contamination source remains a mystery
* July/August issue: The environment
Illinois Issues magazine’s annual environment issue came out today.
In it, you’ll find “Wind power,” a story about Illinois being at a turning point in its energy-producing future. It’s written by Michael Hawthorne, the Chicago Tribune reporter who broke the Crestwood water contamination story.
* ‘Ledge’ at Sears Skydeck opens Thursday