HEAD BUMP A Circuit City employee once filed a workers comp claim because he injured himself banging his head against a vending machine to dislodge a bag of chips for a co-worker. He won. An Illinois judge ruled he qualified for compensation under the state's "Good Samaritan" law. That's just one of many examples cited in a new study by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce that says "activist" judges have driven the cost of workers compensation insurance through the roof for Illinois businesses. Perhaps this has something to do with Illinois having the second highest unemployment in the nation. Check out the report here.
ILLINOISAN SYNDROME Last week we gave you a 12-part test to determine if you're a true Illinoisan. This week we present Part 2 in our list of questions for diagnosing Illinoisan Syndrome. It's also useful in exposing Wisconsinites and Iowans trying to pass themselves off as one of us. Check out our new list here.
CHICAGO VS. DOWNSTATE There's nothing more inherently Illinoisan than the eternal debate over whether Chicago or the rest of the state gets the short end of the state education funding stick. Scott Reeder and Jackson Adams of the Illinois Policy Institute have no doubt: Downstate loses to Chicago. They make their case in an op-ed that is sure to invite heavy disagreement. Read it here.
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OBAMA TO DALEY: NICE ALIBI Why does the former mayor look so grumpy in today's cartoon from the Chicago Tribune's Scott Stantis? He's in a predicament here similar to the president's over the Obamacare launch. See the whole cartoon here.
2014 WAR CHESTS Yesterday's link to our chart on gubernatorial candidates' campaign funds contained the wrong chart. It's been fixed now. It shows total campaign funds for each of the five candidates and focuses on how much each candidate received from individuals and how much came from groups. There's a wide disparity among the four Republican candidates, who may have to spend significant portions of their campaign dollars trying to win the March 18 primary. Gov. Pat Quinn can save all his money for the November 2014 general election. Our chart is here.
Find out what's happening in Palatinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
NEWS WRAP Better Government Association President Andy Shaw this week engaged in a very public exchange of words with House Speaker Michael Madigan, who accused the BGA of using bullying tactics in investigating the government job connections of 30 of Madigan's political volunteers. Today the BGA looks at the operation of state government's airplane fleet. In ground transit news, Chicago CTA workers are tired of fielding complaints from angry commuters whose new Ventra fare cards don't work. They want Ventra shelved until the systems gets fixed. We wrap up those stories and others from today's news here.
HEADLINES: Here are the headlines from the wrapup above:
4. Opinion: The city of Chicago needs a city administrator to fix the hole politicians keep digging. (Chicago Tribune)
3. Proposed legislation for Archer Daniels Midland tax breaks would require ADM to create new jobs in Decatur. (Huffington Post)
2. Chicago Transit Authority’s union leader told CTA that Ventra should be scrapped until the bugs are worked out. (Chicago Tribune)
1. A Better Government Association and Fox 32 investigation shed light on the Executive Shuttle Service and the policy is now being changed. (BGA)
