In an attempt to stem the tide of criticism over his "service" ad, Rahm Emanuel said that he would put an end to furlough days if elected mayor. more ›

Supervalu, Inc., the parent company of Jewel-Osco, is offering office workers the opportunity to volunteer to take time off through Feb. 26. The announcement is being billed as a cost-cutting measure and the voluntary aspect of it was stressed by both Supervalu and the service employees union that represents Jewel-Osco grocery employees. But since union employees can't be forced to take time off, it shouldn't matter to them. more ›

In a newly issued report [PDF], Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson says that a recently completed audit of overtime pay for the 50 exempt positions in the fire department show that Chicago is "hemorrhaging" cash. Exempt positions are those that not governed by city and federal hiring oversight - essentially formalized political appointments. Ferguson says that overtime payments have "skyrocketed," from $18,516 in 2008 to $311,180 in 2009 and $191,293 during the first three months of this year. If payments continue at the current pace, it will cost Chicago $765,174, an increase of almost 250 percent over last year's already inflated numbers. The surge in increased payments coincides with Daley's recent mandate that city workers take furlough days to help close the city's budget hole. Those savings have been wiped out as the mayor's top brass take "liberal" overtime payments from the city. more ›

• Chicago had almost as many murders in 2009 as New York did.
• Two young boys were killed yesterday in a fire in suburban Lansing.
• The University of Illinois is preparing to institute unpaid furlough days in the wake of the state budget crunch.

• A Naperville man has been charged with trying to bribe a "city agent," who the Sun-Times reveals to be Ald. Ike Carothers.
• GOP candidates for governor aren't the only ones debating tonight; the candidates for Cook County Board President will participate in a forum that gets underway at 6 pm. You can view it live online at ABC 7.
• Two men have been arrested in the shooting death of DePaul student Francisco “Frankie” Valencia from last weekend.

In his 2010 budget presented last week, Daley included 24 unpaid days (12 holidays, 12 furlough days) for all non-union and many union city employees. One group he can't force these unpaid days upon are the Police and Fire Departments. But that's not stopping Daley from making overtones suggesting that those departments should take one for the team and join the unpaid train. Said the Mayor, “Everyone has to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. And that’s why I’m taking 24 days without pay, and I got other people to take that, because you have to show that government understands the suffering that is going on throughout your communities.” more ›

The City Council today voted 42-6 to approve 15 unpaid furlough days for non-union city workers in an effort to cut costs for the city as it continues to deal with massive budget issues. Ald. Edward Burke (14th) insisted it was to keep from losing jobs, saying, "I don't think we have much choice." Ald. Helen Shiller (46th) said, "We have to show [the unions] we're serious." According to Clout Street, the six votes against the plan were from Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd), Robert Fioretti (2nd), Toni Preckwinkle (4th), Leslie Hairston (5th), Sandi Jackson (7th) and Joe Moore (49th). No word on who the two missing votes were from. more ›

With all the talk about the unions and layoffs, it's easy to forget that those city workers who still have jobs were asked to take furlough days to help ease some budget issues. But as the Tribune reports this morning, seven aldermen have yet to chip in their part by going a day without pay. The seven are: Alds. George Cardenas (12th), Frank Olivo (13th), Howard Brookins (21st), Daniel Solis (25th), Scott Waguespack (32nd), Richard Mell (33rd) and Brian Doherty (41st). Mayor Daley requested that city workers take as much as three weeks off without pay, but we doubt anyone has done that yet. The Tribune has full reports of who has, and who hasn't, taken one (or a few) for the team. more ›

Among the mayor's more quixotic statements, his declaration yesterday that he is "leading the way" on ethics reform is at the top. At a press conference where he outlined his wishlist from state lawmakers (including more education funding, better gun control laws and property tax reform), he left out ethics reform. When asked why, he announced that Chicago is "more transparent than any other government." Said the mayor: "We've done everything here. We're leading the way with our inspector general, office of compliance, all the things we've done." Adding that "we're doing a tremendous job here, we lead by example," he noted that he hasn't finished reading Governor Pat Quinn's reform commission's recommendations. "I haven't completed reading it yet," he said. more ›

Mayor Daley took issue with President Barack Obama's assessment of the economy yesterday, saying that he didn't see the "glimmers of hope" for an economic recovery that Obama does. "When you talk about a glimmer of hope, I don't know what that meant," Daley said. "I don't know where you see it. Maybe you see it in Washington, D.C., but I don't think you're seeing it across the country," he added. "I don't want to do it [layoffs]. But if next year, everything falls apart and the economy gets worse, what do we do? ... That's the problem," Mayor Grouchypants said. "I'm not trying to be a doomsday person. I'm just telling you the facts. ... Someone said, 'There's a glimmer of hope' [for the economy]. What is the glimmer of hope? Where is it? We don't see it. ... The recession could last for a few more years." more ›

Da Mayor giveth and Da Mayor taketh away. On the heels of finally showing his hand on plans for the city's stimulus money, Mayor Daley is back to huffing and puffing about the budget shortfall. Apparently tired of waiting on the unions to get back to him on an agreement, Daley will take out his budget rage on 3,500 nonunion employees who will have to take up to 16 unpaid days by December via furlough days and an elimination of sick and vacation days. Da Mayor's hoping by taking his frustration out on nonunion employees, he'll spur the unions to action. A mayoral aide told the Sun-Times, "We can't control the unions. But this is a piece we can control. We're facing a serious budget deficit. The unions will have to help us, or there will be layoffs." more ›