Amid the ongoing game of political football that has defined negotiations over how to close the gap in the city's looming budget hole, one voice has been remarkably absent: city workers who would bear the brunt of the mayor's economic sanctions. That silence was broken yesterday as SEIU Local 73 members descended on the city council meeting to vent their anger at both the city and the union. Workers are angry at the city for forcing layoffs on them, and at their union for not accepting furlough days. “We will take the [furlough] days. We will make the adjustments. But somehow people are demanding something that we haven’t demanded,” detention aide John Joynter told the Sun-Times. “We are not being represented by either the city or the union. We have not had a voice in any of this. It’s like we’re pushed aside.” more ›

Mayor Daley canceled his public appearances for the third straight day in a row yesterday, citing a lingering illness. The mayor was scheduled to attend a graduation of firefighters and hold a press conference unveiling new security cameras around Navy Pier. The mayor was also scheduled to meet with leaders of city labor unions in a last-ditch effort to salvage difficult negotiations over Chicago's ongoing budget crisis. "We thought it best he not mingle and shake hands with hundreds of people," Daley spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard told the Tribune. "Rather than pass on this lingering bug, we decided to keep him [at City Hall] today." The meeting quickly became moot, however, when local labor leaders were a no-show at the meeting. Chicago Federation of Labor spokesman Nick Kaleba said the organization had no comment on the decision not to attend. more ›

Mayor Daley hopes to hold a face-to-face meeting today with leaders of the unions representing Chicago city workers in an effort to stave off proposed budget-cutting layoffs. The mayor has been trying to get city workers to accept 16 unpaid furlough days and forgo paid overtime in an effort to close a budget deficit that is projected to be around $400 million. more ›

While the city sits on a literal slush fund of $1.4 billion in TIF funds ($3.4 million of which they gave to London-based Willis Group Holdings Ltd to spruce up their new Sears Tower offices), City Hall is threatening layoffs if unionized city workers don't accept more cutbacks and unpaid furlough days. The city is facing a budget shortfall in the hundreds of millions of dollars this year. more ›

• Police say a fire in Arlington Heights that killed two and injured three others this morning was arson.
• The car of a missing Midlothian woman, as well as a body, have been found; police have not yet announced the identity of the body or said whether it is that of the missing woman, Irma Rodriguez.
• Mayor Daley came to the defense of indicted Ald. Ike Carothers today.