Humpday Political News Roundup

By Kevin Robinson in News on Jun 13, 2007 4:30PM

We here at Chicagoist like to keep it local (since that's our name and all). With that in mind, here's all the news — or at least three stories we found that we wanted to bring to your attention but couldn't really get a whole post out of. So let's get on those chaps, buckaroos, and head on down to the old roundup:

Dick Durbin Seeks Review of Tribune Sale. Expressing concern that federal regulators have not issued a decision regarding the Tribune Company's ownership of different media in multiple markets, Dick Durbin and other Senate Democratic leaders met Tuesday with Tribune Co. officials and Chicago real estate billionaire Sam Zell, who wants to take Tribune private for a cool $8.2 billion. While Zell and others are asking for waivers against same-market ownership of television and newspapers, closing the deal will have a tremendous impact on lots of other media markets.

Make the Bleeding Stop! As part of the bloodletting that has come to define Cook County under the Stroger "administration," the county is now contracting out nursing home care for undocumented immigrants who are currently staying at county-owned Oak Forest Hospital. The two contracts the county has put into place will cost around $18 million but are estimated to save the county around $10 million. Along with this move, Stronger has also proposed contracting out 96 janitorial jobs in the hospital, a move that, so far, has been blocked.

The State Budget Is Still in the Toilet. No. Really. It is. Go check out the mess.

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