On Friday, Cook County was awarded a two-year, $16 million federal grant to help prevent obesity from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Dr. Stephen Martin Jr., the chief operating officer of the county public health department, said to the Chicago Sun-Times that the money will be used for suburban Cook County programs that intend to battle obesity. Martin noted that almost 40 percent of children and 63 percent of adults in the suburbs of Cook County are either obese or overweight, which is more adults than the entire population of Montana--974,989 in July 2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. more ›

The Chicago Transit Authority has received a $1.5 million federal grant from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation to construct electrified vehicle stalls that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and unnecessary fuel consumption. more ›

At the end of this year, Chicago could be short 800 cops compared to last year the police union told the Sun-Times. The shortage is attributed to vacancies, attrition rates, and Mayor Daley’s 2009 budget which has significantly slowed down hiring. Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis told the Sun-Times last week that the CPD hopes to use federal grant money to hire 150 new officers this year. In the short term Weis will manage the officer shortage by shifting officers from desk jobs, or pay officers overtime with federal grants to cover the streets this summer. more ›

Pop quiz: There's a certain amount of time to put together a grant proposal for matching Federal funds for transportation projects we've been promised going back months. It doesn't go through. Do we blame: more ›