breaking ground Friday in Alton for the portion of the line between the Mississippi River city and Springfield, then to near Lincoln.
That $98 million effort is a part of the $1.1 billion the Obama Administration awarded in January to improve passenger rail service between Chicago and St. Louis.
The improvements are expected to allow trains to operate at up to 110 mph. That's up from 79 mph currently.
Maritime Savings Bank, based in West Allis, Wis., with assets of $350.5 million.
Pelosi’s Job Numbers
The speaker of the House said at a Tuesday night news conference: "It’s important to know that in the first eight months of 2010, more jobs were created than in the eight years of the Bush administration."
Really? Well, no, not quite. In the first eight months of this year, the economy gained a net total of 723,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. During Bush’s eight years, the gain was 1,080,000 jobs.
Pelosi’s staff said she was referring only to private sector jobs, omitting any change in government employment. By that measure, she would be right
Obama: Sept. 10: It’s very hard when you’ve got a determined minority in the Senate that insists on a 60-vote filibuster on every single person that we’re trying to confirm, even if after we break the filibuster it turns out that they get 90 votes.
It’s true that Republicans have blocked and delayed many of Obama’s nominees. The Legal Times reported that a 99 to zero vote on one federal court appointment "follows a pattern of circuit nominees waiting several months for votes in the full Senate, only to be confirmed eventually without dissent." The Associated Press cited a "determined Republican stall campaign" for the fact that Obama has "put fewer people on the bench than any president since Richard Nixon at a similar point in his first term 40 years ago."
In a September 10 press conference, President Barack Obama characterized Afghanistan as "the second poorest country in the world." It’s an impoverished country indeed, but second poorest? The CIA World Factbook doesn’t think so.
It lists Afghanistan as number 210 of 227, with a per capita gross domestic product of $1,000 in 2009. That’s orders of magnitude lower than the richest country, Liechtenstein, with a GDP of $122,100 per person — but it’s much higher than the per capita GDP of the actual second poorest country, Burundi, with $300. The Democratic Republic of the Congo ranks last. The International Monetary Fund puts Afghanistan at 170 of 183 nations based on purchasing power parity per capita GDP. (PPP takes into account not only how much money a country makes, but what that money can buy.)
So what gives? The White House tells us that the president was referring to the United Nations’ 2009 Human Development Report, which lists Afghanistan as number 181 of 182 in terms of human development.
Some more Melrose Park scandal news.
Deputy, boss shook down businesses
Under Illinois law, police officers lose their pension when they are convicted of a felony related to their job.
Click on the following for more details: Convicted ex-cop loses pension in media glare :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Politics
with more people than ever living in poverty, the government's unprecedented effort to strengthen the safety net for needy Americans is running out.
Click on the following for more details: Lifelines for the needy disappearing - Sep. 16, 2010
For FY 2011 a $8,000,000 budget is being anticipated yet this large amount was allocated to economic development in FY 2010.
[Board approved] paying Northwest Illinois Development Alliance the $20,000, which is part of the county’s budgeted $100,000 allocation to the agency in the county’s 2010 budget
NIDA played a crucial role in several recent development projects, including the expansion of Tri Star-Pinnacle Metals, and the opening of the Pinnacle Transportation, LLC, dispatching center in Freeport, which is planned for this fall.
Earlier this year, county officials approved a measure to delay future payments to NIDA until the agency hires a new executive director, a process that is still ongoing.
Click on the following for more details: County pays NIDA $20K - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard
Foreclosure filings catapulted 66.4 percent in Cook County in August from a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac's latest report, but the spike is linked to a 2009 law that delayed foreclosure filings last year.
clogged foreclosure pipeline is being carefully managed on both ends by lenders and servicers," said James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "On the front end, seriously delinquent loans are rolling into foreclosure at an unusually slow rate, while on the back end, the dammed-up inventory of properties already in foreclosure is moving to [bank repossessions in a] steady stream rather than a flood, presumably to prevent further erosion of home prices."
Foreclosures surge in Cook County :: The Courier News :: Business
county administrators said a property tax increase is necessary so the fund balance doesn’t get too low. But at the full meeting, board members said they would like to see an alternative budget without a tax increase or layoffs of county employees.
Revenues for fiscal year 2010 are about $920,500 under budget, and the proposed FY11 budget relies on a tax increase and cutting expenditures to help the county
2.4 percent increase is just the county’s portion of property taxes, which will bring the county about $760,000 for the year.
few board members wondered how many county employees would have to be laid off to prevent a tax increase. Hanson said it would work out to about nine employees, which would be “substantial.”
board members approved placing the fiscal year 2011 budget on file for public viewing. Steve Walt, R-DeKalb, proposed two amendments: removing the 2.4 percent property tax increase and looking into a furlough program instead of laying off county employees. The board unanimously approved the amendments.
Hanson said he and county officials will create an alternative budget including those options.
County board votes for another budget option | Daily Chronicle
About $6 billion of Illinois' $13 billion deficit can be tagged to jobs lost in the last 10 years - and there may be another decade of slow growth to go.
One factor in the problem is that Illinois' taxes are outdated, based on a 1970s-era economy when there were far more manufacturing jobs
The state is not losing population. But the people moving in make far less money than the people moving out. Illinois has dropped from fourth to 15th in per capita income….That's a real source of concern,"
investigate the underlying problems and collaborate on a regional approach to solving them
