Chrysler buys Sterling Heights plant for use until 2012 Detroit Free Press

Several empty Chrysler plants without equipment were sold at this price.

Sterling Heights Assembly is a Chrysler automobile factory in Sterling Heights, Michigan. The factory opened in 1953 to produce missiles. Volkswagen converted it for automobile production in 1980 and it was subsequently purchased by Chrysler in 1983. The nearby Sterling Stamping opened in 1965. As the plant was modernized in 2006, the old Stratus assembly line and tooling was sold to OAO GAZ and had been shipped to that company's factory in Nizhny Novgorod in Russia. GAZ continues to produce the Stratus under license there.^{[1][Wikipedia]}

On May 6, 2009 it was announced that the Sterling Heights Assembly plant will close by December 2010.^[2] However, the adjacent stamping plant will remain open.

Chrysler is getting a bargain at $20 million, especially considering that the city of Sterling Heights has offered to extend $7.4 million in property tax abatements.

plant, which Chrysler bought from Volkswagen in 1983, is one of Chrysler’s oldest assembly plants. Its paint shop likely would have to be upgraded or replaced if Chrysler would assign it a new product after 2012

Click on the following for more details:  Chrysler buys Sterling Heights plant for use until 2012 | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

Mayor Brereton delivers state of the city address

drop in the general fund revenue by nearly 4 percent, or just under $500,000, followed by decreases in income tax revenues by about $250,000, and sales tax revenues of more than $500,000.

Brereton concluded that in this environment, the city is "treading water" to keep municipal services intact.

we find ourselves trying to run a 2011 government on 2006 revenues."

city needs to continue to support their corporate citizens, Chrysler, General Mills/Green Giant, Dean Foods, and offer prayers for NDK’s recovery activities as well as all employers big and small to enhance the city’s efforts to reverse the unemployment trend of recent months.

firefighter or police officer can collect 50 percent of their ending year salary after 20 years of service or 75 percent of the ending salary after 30 years. Fully funding for this eventuality has been "virtually impossible" and just adequately funding them is "placing increased pressure" on the city’s general fund

Click on the following for more details:  The Belvidere Daily Republican. - Mayor Brereton delivers state of the city address

Kirk Dillard: No recount in GOP governor primary unless he’s within 100 votes - chicagotribune.com

State Sen. Kirk Dillard indicated he would not push for a recount unless he trailed rival state Sen. Bill Brady by 100 votes or less….

Late unofficial vote counts from election authorities in the more-populous six-county Chicago region showed Dillard cutting into Brady's lead by nearly 200 votes. Still, final tallying continues in downstate counties where, despite fewer votes being cast, Brady has held an advantage over Dillard.
Dillard maintained that the differential could be made up in the Chicago suburbs by counting provisional ballots — most of which are routinely tossed. Dillard said he won't make a decision on whether to concede the race until the State Board of Elections certifies the results March 5.

Click on the following for more details:  Kirk Dillard: No recount in GOP governor primary unless he’s within 100 votes - chicagotribune.com

Clout St: State Supreme Court rules no pension for jailed George Ryan

Illinois Supreme Court today ruled that imprisoned ex-Gov. George Ryan should not get get any of his state pension because of his federal conviction on political corruption charges.

The 6-1 decision means Ryan, who turns 76 next week, won't be able to start collecting about $5,900 a month, or around $71,000 a year.

Ryan retired with a $150,691 salary as governor, but his 36 years climbing the ladder of local and state politics allowed him to collect about $200,000 a year until he was convicted

Madigan's argument was simple. Ryan should lose the whole pension because he was a member of the same state pension system before and after his crimes. He had shifted his pension credits from the nearly six years in county government to the state pension after joining the legislature in 1972.

pension payments had stopped in September 2006…Ryan received $235,500 from the pension system when his pension was voided, representing personal contributions he made to the retirement fund over the years

Click on the following for more details and references for the legal briefs on the subject:  Clout St: State Supreme Court rules no pension for jailed George Ryan

Muni-threat-cities-weigh-chapter-9: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

 

Chapter 9 is widely considered a last resort and filings under it are more taboo than other parts of bankruptcy code because of the resulting uncertainty for everyone from municipal employees to bondholders….Since Chapter 9 was enacted in 1934, just 600 cases have been filed under the code, partly because they require state approval.

Click on the following for more details:  muni-threat-cities-weigh-chapter-9: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

Our View: Sign the petition; make a difference | Daily Chronicle

Redistricting should be for the people, not the politicians.
A proposed constitutional amendment, the Illinois Fair Map Amendment, would take redistricting power away from politicians, place it in the hands of an impartial commission, and strike a blow against Illinois’ culture of corruption.
How can you help? Registered voters are encouraged to sign Fair Map Amendment petitions before the end of March.

Click on the following for more details:  Our View: Sign the petition; make a difference | Daily Chronicle

Sycamore, NIU grad killed in California plane crash | Daily Chronicle

DeKalb County connection to the Tesla crash. 

graduate of both Sycamore High School and Northern Illinois University was killed Wednesday in a plane crash in California.
Brian Michael Finn was one of three employees of electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc.

Finn graduated from Sycamore High in 1985, according to school officials. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics, with a concentration in acoustics, in 1990 from NIU, followed by a Masters of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1992, according to NIU records.

 

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Sycamore, NIU grad killed in California plane crash | Daily Chronicle