Results tagged “financialclusterfuck”

Earlier this week, we discussed the insane new parking meter rates that would go into effect if the City Council passed legislation allowing Mayor Daley to lease the meters to a private company. Well, they passed it by a vote of 40-5. Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th) opposed the measure, claiming she didn't have enough time to review it, prompting this amazing (and classic) response from Ald. Richard Mell (33rd):

How many of us read the stuff we do get, OK? I try to. I try to. I try to. But being realistic, being realistic, it's like getting your insurance policy -- it's small print, OK?

Yes, Dick, it's just like an insurance policy. Why would you need to read the entire thing? We will give him this, though: at least he's being honest. The bill also had opposition from Ald. Billy Ocasio (26th) who seems to still have something of a connect with reality, saying, "I'm sorry, but there are too many people in our city living paycheck to paycheck." Another tidbit about the new bill? Free Sundays and holidays are now a thing of the past and some meters will even require 24-hour payment. So explain to us again how the City can afford 2,000 new SUVs?

Chicago-based Bally Total Fitness Corp. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in a year. The company will either sell itself or reorganize. Chief Executive Michael Sheehan said in a statement:

The burden of Bally’s long-term indebtedness, coupled with the lack of refinancing options in today’s constrained credit markets, have limited our ability to restructure using out-of-court vehicles, leaving Bally with no alternative other than the actions announced today.

Bally's current debt is reported to be over $800 million with total assets of just over $400 million. The gym company has 347 locations around the country with over three million customers.

• Castle Rock State Park, Oregon
• Lowden State Park, Oregon
• Illini State Park, Marseilles
• Hidden Springs State Forrest, Strasburg
• Moraine View State Park, Leroy
• Weldon Springs State Park, Clinton
• Wolf Creek State Park, Windsor
• Dana-Thomas House, Springfield
• Lincoln log cabin near Charleston
• Fort de Chartres, Randolph County
• Vandalia statehouse (Saturday is last day; not open Sundays)
• State center at Bishop Hill, Henry County
• Carl Sandburg birthplace, Galesburg
• Cahokia courthouse
• Hauberg Indian Museum, Rock Island County, (part of the Black Hawk State Historic Site) but the adjacent natural area will stay open.
• Jubilee College, near Peoria
• Apple River Fort, Elizabeth
• Fort Kaskaskia, Randolph County
• Pierre Menard home, Randolph County
  
  Continue reading "State Shuts Down Parks and Historic Sites Tomorrow"

The Chicago City Council passed the city budget today with a 49 - 1 vote. Ald. Billy Ocasio (26th) cast the only dissenting vote. Mayor Daley’s hard-times budget will cut no more than 770 city jobs, down from the nearly 1000 originally proposed. The plan will also raise parking taxes, raise amusement taxes and charge fees on private dumpsters.

We outlined for you yesterday the specifics of the actual fare increases, but there are a few other tidbits we missed. First, as part of the new budget the CTA passed, 632 workers will be laid off, with as many as 200 losing their jobs before the new budget (and fare hikes) go into effect on January 1. As for the reason that long-term passes increased by only 15 percent instead of 20: "Transit board Chairman Carole Brown said that change was made possible by halting employee enrollment in a "supplemental" pension program for senior staff, a move that was expected to save $3.6 million."

Mayor Daley has many nicknames among Chicagoans, but we're going to start referring to him as The Harbinger of Doom. Daley announced that he has been informed by several CEOs to expect massive layoffs in the city's private sector as the nation's current economic recession deepens. "Huge layoffs are coming in November and December. And next year, there’s going to be [even more] huge layoffs. All the corporation CEOs have come in to tell me. That’s just the beginning. It’s not their end result." Oh, and that $420 million budget hole the city is facing? Turns out that's not the only bad news we're facing.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported last week that Chicago will close the book on 2008 with an unreserved corporate fund balance of just $1.5 million, a dangerously low level that, Wall Street Rating agencies warned, threatens the all-important bond rating used to determine borrowing costs.

Continue reading "Daleyist: Layoffs, Clout, and Iraq"

A menu of my dinner tonight, by reillyandrew
• Thinking of ordering a "Choose Life" license plate? A federal appeals court ruled the state doesn't have to issue them.
• Two Englewood teens were shot dead thus putting the city past its 2007 murder total.
• The Sun-Times reported a net loss of $168.8 million during the third quarter of 2008 and it looks like more staff cuts are on the way.

Indications are that perpetual political bridesmaid Jim Oberweis may be done running for office. But we're not holding our breath.

Continue reading "Extra Extra"

You mean there was news besides the election???

A new round of PR firm contracts, at $5 million a piece, has Mayor Daley under fire again. His administration has signed up with Valerie Denney Communications, Better World Advertising and Metropolitan Group LLC, adding to seven previously announced contracts, for a grand total of $50 million. This has not gone over well at a time when so many other cuts are being made to the city budget thanks to that pesky $420 million hole. Press secretary Jacquelyn Heard promises no payments will be made to these firms will be made until that hole is erased. So...never? Said Heard, "When you're trying to alert millions of people to hundreds of city programs, it's understandable that you need to go beyond the current level of staffing. But many of the other programs dialed back were also helpful and this is no different. You have to live within your means. Sometimes you have to make tough choices." 10 PR firms? Are we that bad off? Cause this has nothing to do with the 2016 Olympics, we're sure. Of course, Hizzonah is too busy with prognostications and parties to actually address city budget issues.

The current financial meltdown has claimed another victim: Circuit City. The electronics chain will be shutting down 155 stores nationwide, including 14 in the Chicago area. The store at 1030 W. North Ave, in the Clybourn Corridor, will be the highest profile store of the area to close. Other locations shutting down include ones in Joliet, Bolingbrook, Niles, and Oswego. The stores that are being shut down will be closed tomorrow (Tuesday, November 4) but will reopen on Wednesday, November 5 to begin closing sales. New store openings are being reduced and existing leases are being renegotiated to help save money as well.

It seems there's trouble brewing for Mr. Trump's new hotel, the supposed new "jewel" of the Chicago skyline. According to the Wall Street Journal:

So far, Mr. Trump has lined up buyers for a bit less than $600 million of condo units and condo-hotel units in a residential market that has virtually seized up. Yet he owes lenders as much as $1 billion when the loans are due, according to public records and several people familiar with the project. He has closed around $200 million in sales so far, with roughly $380 million still in contract. The retail portion of the giant building is for sale, at a time of rising vacancies for retail space in Chicago and one of the worst eras for retailers in years.

Yikes. The story runs down some of Trump's trouble with specific loans and how he's scrambling to make sure he's covered as this time around, Trump isn't operating with partners; he's going to sink or swim on his own.

The current financial crisis has reached a point to where even local colleges are beginning to feel the crunch. As more students are in need of financial assistance, the schools are dealing with shrinking endowments. With these endowments, which fund up to a quarter of the schools costs, bringing in smaller returns, the schools are having to rework budgets.

"Everyone's feeling pressure," says Will McLean, Northwestern's chief investment officer. The university's $7.2-billion endowment, which funds almost 20% of school operations, produced returns of 3% during the 12 months ended in August, compared with 22% in the year-earlier period.

Continue reading "Financial Slowdown Hits Area Universities"

With the price of oil at $67 a barrel, gas prices continue to drop, down to an average of $3.22 per gallon here in the Chicago area and they could reach as low as $2.80 a gallon here and $2.50 nationwide by the end of the year. But prices might not drop much further as OPEC is looking to take as many as two million barrels per day off the market to slow the current trend. And even though the recent dramatic price drop has resulted in an almost $125 billion surplus among Americans, it's not necessarily a sign of an improving economy as Americans continue to see the Dow roller coaster and fear layoffs and the obliteration of retirement funds. Sigh...

Eusebio Cruz has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his daughter Ashley Cruz, who died from blunt force trauma to the head.

Continue reading "Extra, Extra"

Still confused about the financial bailout even after all these debates? DePaul University's Department of Economics and Master of Science Program in Economics and Policy Analysis is hosting a town hall forum tonight to explore the financial rescue package and how it might affect you. On-hand to discuss the package will be:

The excrement hit the fan today when Mayor Daley unveiled his proposed budget to the city council. Daley and his team hope that this new budget (check out the highlights here) will help close an estimated $470 million shortfall by laying off 929 city workers (hey, they could always go into PR) eliminating more than a thousand vacant jobs, partially shutting down the government near holidays, raising the parking and amusement taxes, doing away with the Fire Department's Segway patrols (seriously?), doubling library fines, and privatizing 35,000 parking meters.

The City has released its 2009 budget and you read all about it in this 148-page whopper of an overview [PDF]. Want more? You can scope out this 250+ page summary. Check out all of the city's info here. We've got to read through it all first, but we'll be offering up our analysis in a bit.