From the Chicago Tribune
On Wednesday, a coalition of businesses and civic organizations called CHANGE Illinois! launched a campaign to amend the state constitution to end this protection racket. They have their work cut out for them. They need to collect almost 300,000 signatures in less than a year to get the measure on the 2014 ballot. A similar effort in 2010 came up short.
CHANGE wants an independent commission to draw the legislative maps, with public input and in broad daylight. (Mapmaking for congressional districts would not change.) The panel would …

An emotional Gov. Pat Quinn lashed out today at his alma mater, Fenwick High School, for firing his brother as boys basketball coach.

“He’s a kind and gentle man who understands the importance of sportsmanship, and I feel that my high school has lost its soul,” Quinn said. “It’s a devastating blow to my brother, John, and I think the administration there has let down the students, the alumni and shame on them.”
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Robin Kelly, former Chief of Staff to failed bank owner Alexi Giannoulias, has continued the Democrat tradition of putting dicier members of the dicey Chicago political establishment in the 2nd Congressional District.

Former state Rep. Robin Kelly easily won the special Democratic primary Tuesday night in the race to replace the disgraced Jesse Jackson Jr. in Congress, helped by millions of dollars in pro-gun control ads from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s political fund.
A snowstorm and lack of voter interest kept turnout low as Kelly had 52 percent to 25 …

Two vocal opponents of Naperville’s initiative to install wireless electric meters on homes were arrested after interfering with the installation process, according to city officials.
Police are accompanying crews this week as they install smart meters at homes that previously sent away installers.

However, the Naperville Smart Meter Awareness group has expressed concerns over whether the wireless meters will affect health, security and privacy. The group has a federal lawsuit pending against the city.
The two women arrested Wednesday are leaders of the group.
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image someone in Crain’s declared …

 
 
From the Chicago Tribune
Some readers seized this opportunity to accuse us of using this graphic to promote what they termed a specific liberal agenda on the topic of gun control. They saw our labeling mistake as a deliberate misrepresentation, one that made these weapons seem more dangerous. Let me say emphatically that this was a careless mistake, not an intentional deception nor bias. It is regrettable because we got a basic fact wrong, period.

The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority board approved the purchase of a parcel at 2101 S. Indiana Ave. for $5.1 million, with closing expected by year-end. A two-story building on the 23,126-square-foot property is now leased to operators of a methadone clinic.
 

 
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image 1933 World’s Fair layout led to the McCormick Place development
 

Even Eric Zorn is having his doubts about Anita Alvarez after her exposure on 60 Minutes last night
Just days after Alvarez was embarrassed by the grand jury indictment in the Koschmann case comes this fresh evidence that she’s not up to her job. She just doesn’t know what happened? And this is the woman we expect to represent the interests of justice in Cook County?
Watch the entire segment below and prepare to be dismayed:
 

While Tribune commenter “Tribune” accurately sums up the current position of the Democratic Party
I’m conflicted on this…
First, is this really …

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said Democratic state Sen. Donne Trotter, a candidate to succeed Jesse Jackson Jr. in Congress, shouldn’t get any special treatment as an elected official for allegedly trying to board a plane with a firearm and ammunition.

 
Speaking to reporters at a downtown hotel Friday, Durbin also said he remained optimistic that a solution to the so-called fiscal cliff could be reached by Congress before year’s end. But Durbin, the state’s senior senator and the No. 2 ranking Democrat in the chamber, also said Republicans need to realize …

Programs that aim to steer Chicago children away from street violence will benefit from funds left over from the NATO summit, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Sunday.

 
The initiative, dubbed Youth Working for Success, aims to give a total of $1 million in grants to after-school programs, youth-employment efforts and mentoring services that apply early next year for the money, according to the plan the mayor’s office outlined.
The $1 million will come from private and federal money left over from a fund designed to cover the costs the city incurred while hosting …

After months of promising a major grass-roots effort to win public support for reforming the state’s government worker pension system, Gov. Pat Quinn on Sunday unveiled a plan that featured an incomplete online strategy, children wearing red plastic megaphones and an animated “Squeezy the Pension Python” mascot.

 
There were, however, no solutions offered on how to fix the nation’s most underfunded retirement system.
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