The campaign of President Barack Obama was about hope and change, but a growing group of Americans don’t buy his message. They call themselves the Tea Party. The Chicago chapter has created a Contract for America, which spells out their ideals and goals. It includes protecting the constitution, rejecting cap and trade, demanding a balanced [Continue]
Does the name Elena Kagan ring a bell? For those following the legal wranglings of the Asian carp invasion, it should. Kagan, as President Barack Obama’s solicitor general, argued against closing the Chicago locks to prevent the invasive carp from entering Lake Michigan. … read more Great Lakes Echo (www.greatlakesecho.org) Follow us on [Continue]
A proposed ordinance under consideration by Chicago City Council transportation and licensing committees threatens the city’s nascent pedicab industry, pedicab operators and owners say. The proposal would restrict pedicabs to designated routes, largely ban them from the city center, limit advertising on the vehicles and require the pedicab [Continue]
ChicagoTalks.org doesn’t have a regular editorial feature; however, we are going to introduce an “Occasional Opinion” feature as our cool spring begins to slide into summer and fall into election season. If you are interested in submitting an editorial about Chicago-centric issues, please contact us. We may publish editorials or [Continue]
Lionel Garcia, a 6th District state representative candidate and political director of the National Hispanic Political Assembly, talked with ChicagoTalks on Thursday about the issue of race and his involvement with Chicago Tea Party. [Continue]
A new bill requiring public water suppliers to notify the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency before their water supply hits unsafe contaminant levels unanimously passed a key environmental state panel earlier this month. The Illinois EPA proposed the bill to correct any contamination problems before they become a larger issue, said John [Continue]
By Hugh Devlin, From Lake Effect News Vice Mayor and 50th Ward Alderman Bernard L. Stone An ongoing, well documented investigative series by the Chicago Tribune into various City Council expense accounts turned up numerous instances of city taxpayers’ largesse to the friends and family members of Chicago aldermen. In November 2009, Lake Effect [Continue]
State Rep. Deborah Graham (D-Oak Park), who will be sworn in Friday morning as the next 29th Ward alderman, will help choose her replacement in the Illinois House. The four-term state representative will be one of seven elected Democratic Party officials who will interview and select who will represent the state’s 78th District, which [Continue]
The problem: HIV cases in Illinois are rising, but funding in next year’s newly proposed budget does not meet the need. The solution: bi-partisan effort to produce a smart budget — which hasn’t been the state’s forte in the past. “If that funding is not produced, we will unquestionably all see 500 to 1,000 people [Continue]
People convicted of drug crimes in Illinois could face an automatic six-month suspension of their drivers’ licenses, a proposal that is drawing sharp criticism from drug policy analysts. House Bill 5720 would require drug offenders to stay out of the driver’s seat for a period of six months for the first offense and one year [Continue]