If you want to piss voters off, mess with their commute. Those concerns might explain some surprising action taken by local pols related to a bill in DC that could have big impacts at home. more ›

For Chicago's many ex-Michiganders, your future Thankgiving pilgrimages will be slightly shorter. more ›

The Illinois Republican accepted Obama's invitation to serve on his Cabinet and was a wise choice. more ›

Speaking of the Windy City White House, check out the official cabinet pic for Obama's current administration. Besides the President and his (literally) right-hand man Rahm-bo, you can also spot Illinois guys Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood (back row, all the way to the left) and Education Secretary Arne Duncan (standing, all the way to the right). more ›

Follow me if you can: Bo was born of Penny, who lives on Martha and Art Stern's farm. Penny was born of Pooka, who also was bred by the Sterns until Penny herself was of breeding age. At that point, Pooka, Bo's maternal grandmother, came to live with [DOT Chief Financial Officer Janet Forsgren]. more ›

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was happy after meeting with state transportation officials and said low bidding by companies on projects means there will be more money available for additional projects. Said LaHood:

"A lot of these bids are coming in well below what was really thought might be the cost for the projects and that will enable us, I think, to have money to spend that maybe we didn't really realize...There's a real pent up demand around the country for people who have not been able to do the kind of infrastructure that they want to do... So a lot of these firms that do this kind of work — build roads and do the construction — are coming in with fairly low bids and hopefully that will create some additional dollars and create some additional jobs."

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has issued a heads up to his former legislative home state of Illinois, warning the state that time is running out for them to submit their transit project list in order to receive money from the recently passed stimulus bill. Said LaHood, "The law requires us to get the money out the door very quickly...we have not received a list from the state or from Chicago." Illinois is in line to receive $935 million from the stimulus package with $429 million of that designated for transit projects. As outlined in the stimulus legislation, the deadline for applying for bridge, highway, and transit funding is Tuesday, March 10. more ›

Photo by sfmoe