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Finally, a hearing has been set in the case of the Loop Lab School, which may find itself having to pay back $1 million in grant money in may or may not have been given by mistake. Way back in '06, after Pilgrim Baptist Church burned down, then-governor Rod Blagojevich claimed he pledged the cool million to the church to help rebuild. At the time, the Loop Lab school was renting space in the church and burned along with it. But then-leader of the school, Elmira Mayes, claims Blago made the promise to her. To add another layer of intrigue, the school's current leader, Chandra Gill, was the recipient of a Blago pardon.
But it gets even better. The Loop Lab School used the money to buy a condo space in a building across from the Sears Tower. The school then flipped that property and allegedly made $950,000 from the sale, prompting Attorney General Lisa Madigan to sue the school, asking for court oversight in the wheeling and dealing. So, now what? Well, there'll be a hearing today for the school to perhaps determine whether or not the school has to pay back the $1 million to the state. According to lawyers for the state's Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the school has managed to stall the hearing multiple times by switching up lawyers.
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Chandra Gill says she will repay the money.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/1582957,loop-lab-school-blagojevich-money-052009.article
" Today’s agreement puts an end to legal action instituted by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and sends the case to the Illinois Attorney General’s Office for collection of the full $1 million.
Speaking after a hearing at the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago, Gill said she had the best of intentions.
“I was only interested in continuing the education of our children,” Gill said. “The allegations are what they are. My intent was not to fight that.”
But Gill, who has a doctorate from the University of Illinois, declined to go into specifics about how Loop Lab got the grant or how the money will be repaid.
Loop Lab School already faces substantial financial difficulties. The 318 W. Adams Condominium Association is seeking about $200,000 from the school for unpaid assessments.
And others — including the Internal Revenue Service — are going after the school for hundreds of thousands of dollars they say they are owed, said attorney Thomas Planera II, who represents the condo association.
The attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit in April to force court oversight of the school’s assets. The school had reached an agreement to sell its 318 W. Adams condo for $950,000, but that deal is now dead, Planera said. Another sale of the unit presumably could be used to help pay its debts.
After the Chicago Sun-Times broke the story about the grant mistake, Blagojevich again pledged to give Pilgrim Baptist $1 million. That never happened. "
Yep, thanks. Just finished writing the update which is going up in just a few minutes.